Yard Bird
by Galaxina-the-Seedrian
Summary: ("Like Father, Like Son" sequel; originally "The Prisoner"); Candace stopped in her tracks as she saw Phineas, leaning against the wall, crossing his arms. "Hey, sis," Phineas said bitterly, "How's it going with you? Me? I'm fine…'cept for some things…" Phineas stood straight and walked over to Candace. "I want answers," he said, "If you would please, sir." (slight Phinabella)
1. Chapter 1

**A little soon to be making the sequel...but given that this has been on my mind for YEARS, and it took me FOREVER to write "Like Father, Like Son", you understand, right? XD**

 **For those of you who have found this fic and haven't read "** _Like Father, Like Son_ **" and have also NOT read the summary (you know who you are), then I must ask you to read "** _Like Father, Like Son **"**_ **BEFORE you continue this fic! You can also read "** _The Memories We Shared_ **" if you want, but it's not really required, since that's more of a side series for this. But if you want to know the backstories of Doofenshmirtz and Schnitzel of this universe, then I suggest checking that out. ;)**

 **There's a lot I have plans for in this sequel; without revealing too much, we'll be looking more into the characters that work with the Resistance, more into Ferb's corruption, and of course we will be introducing a new _main_ character. That's right. A new MAIN character. X3**

 **Then there's Doofenshmirtz and Schnitzel...oooh, the things I am going to do to THEM. X3**

" _Phineas and Ferb_ " **belong to Dan Povenmire, and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, who are still working for Disney ( _LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!_ )**

 **I own literally everything else! XD**

 **...Well...except for one thing; but we'll get more into that later. ;3**

 **I hope you guys enjoy this!**

 _ **"We're about to enter a war."**_

 **P/F/P/F**

 _"...Candace?"_

 _"Hm?"_

 _"I...I can't stop thinking about..."_

 _"I'm sorry, Isabella. You weren't supposed to know about-."_

 _"I know, I know...but...I can't help but feel so...ill about it."_

 _"Why?"_

 _"...Why? WHY?! Think of what we're DOING, Candace! Without even KNOWING it, no less! If the Resistance found out-!"_

 _"That's why they can't find out. I know what I'm doing seems sadistic, but trust me, it's for the greater good."_

 _"And what about...her? You're just...I don't know...it feels wrong."_

 _"There's no other way. Not after all she's been through."_

 _"What do you...you erased our memories of her, didn't you? She was a member here, wasn't she?"_

 _"...Yes."_

 _"How did you-?"_

 _"I made a deal with someone. And before you ask, I must keep him anonymous, otherwise you'll question my methods."_

 _"You mean more than I already am?"_

 _"Exactly."_

 _"Sigh...of all the decisions you've made, I swear this is...bah!"_

 _"Please, Isabella, you've got to be quiet. You'll wake everyone."_

 _"Alright, but I'm only doing this because you're the leader and all...you're insane, Candace."_

 _"Perhaps...do you trust me?"_

 _"Huh?"_

 _"Do you trust me, Isabella?"_

 _"...Why wouldn't I?"_

 _"Because you're the one who just called me 'insane'."_

 _"Oh...well...of course I trust you, Candace. Why else would you be able to convince me to side with you all this time?"_

 _"Then promise me that you'll keep this between us."_

 _"Wha-?"_

 _"Please, Isabella. If anything happens, I won't be able to forgive myself. Please. I ask this not as your leader, but as a friend."_

 _"Candace, I...sigh...alright...I'll keep my mouth shut. But someone else is gonna find out, you know?"_

 _"For sure...but this will be kept in the dark long enough, yes?"_

 _"...Right."_

 _"Trust me, Isabella. I...I don't want to do this to her either. But...given her...stability...we don't have much of a choice in the matter."_

 _"I...I guess so. I understand."_

 _"Good."_

* * *

 _(Twelve hours after the collapse of DEI...)_

" _So...we're back to the start of all of this_."

" _Eeyup_."

" _You're gonna end up telling me why you planned all of this, right_?"

The cybernetic pygmy goat, Applejack, who had machinery on one side of his face and a black collar around his neck that attached itself to his metal half with a wire of some sort, snorted a bit at his comrade's words. His friend, or to put it mildly his partner, was none other than the secret agent platypus, Perry. Applejack tilted his head towards Perry's direction, nearly sticking out his tongue. " _I have no idea what you're talkin' about_ ," he said with a heir of sarcasm, " _Gotta be more specific, Agent P_."

" _You know damn well of what I'm talking about_ ," Perry glowered, " _You mean to frigging tell me that you KNEW all of this was going to happen back there_?!"

" _Well, of course_ ," Applejack nodded, " _Though, admittedly, I didn't expect Ferb to act so hostile...and then suddenly lending a hand? Pfft. I don't trust him one bit_."

" _Neither do I...and that's coming from me_ ," Perry shook his head, " _But we're getting off topic; you made me waste several months, Applejack, wondering if my owner was okay, and-and you're telling me this was all a part of 'the plan'_?!"

" _'Course_ ," Applejack said, " _For one thing, had I let you go in the first place_ -."

"- _Enough of that bull-crap, I can handle things my own_!"

" _Sure, sure, says the guy who LOST IT upon seeing his old nemesis supposedly DIE during the collapse of his own base_."

Perry fell silent at these words as Applejack began to smack his lips patronizingly. The platypus soon looked back to Applejack with a question in mind. " _What do you mean 'supposedly'_?" he asked.

Applejack rolled his eyes, both organic and mechanical. " _You HONESTLY believe that Doofenshmirtz_ , **_Doofenshmirtz_** ," the goat managed to emphasize the dictator's name with greatness in spite his feelings towards the guy, " _Could die that easily if Monogram managed to survive? Sheesh, you love him more than you have faith in the guy...odd...no wonder the ships live on between you two_."

Perry's face grew red with rage at Applejack's joking, but soon calmed down as the goat cleared his throat and continued, " _In all seriousness, though, I've been hearing that Candace is going to be sending out some troops nearest to DEI to see if there's anything left there. And while Ferb was taking us back, I couldn't help but hear him mumbling to himself...probably to Monogram through a device, though I honestly didn't SEE one with him. Back to the topic, I thought I heard him say something about 'not being able to scan for bodies' or whatever...so...I'm assuming the guy managed to survive_."

" _Well, he better be_ ," Perry sighed, rubbing his temples, " _For Phineas' sake...I never saw the kid so upset before. Even for Ferb, he...it's like he reached a breaking point somewhere back there_."

" _I don't blame him_ ," Applejack sighed, " _I mean, his father's an evil dictator, his mother's lost it, his brother is...undecided, I suppose...then there's Candace_."

Perry opened up his bill to say something. He'd been wondering about Applejack's relationship with Candace ever since it was brought up before. All Perry seemed to understand was that it was rough currents between them; they didn't seem to trust each other, and they definitely didn't like talking to each other. Well, at least Candace didn't like talking to Applejack. It was one of the reasons why Applejack remained without a translator for all these years.

At least, until today, and Perry was still wondering if he had made the right decision.

Before Perry could say anything, as he opened up, the devil herself entered the room. Candace stepped out the door, with Phineas lying in a bed, trying to peer through his older sister's body to see if anyone else was there. Candace stepped out of the way of the entrance and Phineas' face lit up at the sight of Perry, who immediately brushed off his thoughts to Applejack and ran in to hug his owner. The door closed, leaving Perry to ramble at Phineas and scold him for scaring him like a nervous wreck that he was in his native tongue, to which Phineas laughed upon realizing that his pet had 'forgotten' his translator outside, and unaware of the tension this mere action had brought upon his sister.

Candace and Applejack stared at each other, silence taking center stage, yet the moment itself seemed more intense than it was awkward. They stared at each other, neither blankly nor angrily. A serious tone suddenly changed the usually enthusiastic pygmy goat, who frowned at Candace. The Resistance leader gave a similar expression, though this was her usual look anyway, so it wasn't really much to mention in the first place.

"The collar?" Candace asked.

Applejack slowly smirked as he went to put on the said device around his neck with the help of his mechanical horn, which extended out a claw of some kind that doubled as a hand. He clicked on the invention, and cleared his throat, almost mockingly. Out came a thick southern drawl, one that Applejack himself appeared proud of.

"My, 'Ah DO sound sexy," Applejack giggled, "'Ah missed this voice, here, 'Ah did."

Candace scoffed at Applejack's self-fawning, having to clear her throat about five minutes later in order to grab his attention. The pygmy goat's ears rose up, and he turned his attention back to the matter at hand. Applejack's grin remained, however. "So," he said, "Perry told you, did he?"

"The moment you two got back," Candace said, "And, of course, when we had a moment alone. He convinced me to let you speak with me without any force."

"Ooh, so he DOES like me," Applejack grinned, "'Ah feel loved."

"Ugh, shut up," Candace said, "The only reason why he's doing this is because he felt that you'd be able to speak yours and his feelings about a certain matter better than he could."

"Eeyup," Applejack said with a quick nod, "I almost forgot about that, actually. The whole Mutant hoo-ha left me in a daze, it seems."

"Just talk already so I can get back to work," Candace sighed, "It's enough that I had to cut my visit with my brother short JUST to have this conversation with YOU."

Applejack looked unimpressed. "That's actually what 'Ah wanted ta talk about, Candace," he said, "'Ah suppose you'd care to explain the whole brother mishap, hm? Ferb?"

Candace appeared to be unnerved by this. "What about-?"

"-Ya' lied to your own FAMILY about him, didn't you?" Applejack's grin faded into a scowl, "Ferb's your brother, ain't he?!"

Applejack pointed his hoof at Candace accusingly, the Resistance leader giving a calm look to the pygmy goat in spite her current situation. She had to remain firm, she had figured. It took self-control to handle these types of situations, after all. "Of course he is," Candace said, "And it was probably foolish of me to not tell Perry in the first place about what had really happened to Ferb, especially given the circumstances."

"How could ya' do that, Candace?" Applejack asked, "'Ah mean, 'Ah'm an annoyin' little turd, but even 'Ah wouldn't stoop so low as to-!"

"-It was to keep them from worrying," Candace said, "Ferb was adamant about joining the Resistance the moment he found out about it. I couldn't turn him down, even if I wanted to."

"What about 'keepin' your family members safe'?"

"We need all the help we can get from this, Applejack. I probably could've been able to convince him to back down, but at the same time I took our situation under consideration. Aside from that, he proved himself, didn't he?"

"And what about Monogram?"

"After Ferb's betrayal, you remember him trying to call me, right?"

"Yeah. The moment ya' left him to-."

"Be quiet and listen."

Applejack growled as he lied his body down, grumbling. Candace continued, "I managed to give Monogram a call using your old OWCA communicator after he found Ferb. He said that he could help whip him back into shape; make him see the light of his actions."

"So," Applejack said slowly, "Monogram's a secret ally to ya', is he? Well, ya' could'a tol' me, at least. 'Ah'm one of his former agents, for cryin' out loud!"

"We both know what you would've done," Candace said, "You're not exactly on good terms with him, either."

"Too true," Applejack sighed, "Ya' got me there...still, was this all worth turnin' Ferb into a mindless robot?"

"He's still a human being, Applejack."

"Yeah? Well, he ain't no sentient now is he? 'Ah mean, did ya' see him in the eyes?! They're completely soulless, it's like he been turned into a Cy-!"

Applejack's eyes widened, and he soon regretted his choice words as he cringed. Candace nearly felt sympathy for him, but showed none of it to him. "It's for the sake of our home," Candace said, "There was no other way...believe me, I didn't want to have to hurt him...but it was to save him. You should know that."

"Save him from what?" Applejack asked, "His injuries, or his beliefs?"

"You know what I mean, Applejack."

"Then it's from his beliefs, yes?"

Candace growled as Applejack looked smug again, though the anger had yet to die down. "I don't have time to explain myself to you," she said, "I have work."

"All the boring ones do, Candy," Applejack said, "All the boring ones do."

"Make sure you give that back to Perry," Candace said, pointing at the pygmy goat's translator, "I don't want you abusing it like in the past."

"Whatever you say, Candace dear."

"And DON'T call me that. Or Candy, for that matter. I'm not a little girl."

Applejack sighed as Candace walked away, leaving the goat to himself. He thought about going against Candace's orders, feeling that perhaps he would feel better about today's events if he went about messing with everyone. Instead, he decided to go against it, which was something that even surprised him now that he thought about it. He just didn't have the energy to do it right now.

* * *

 _(Three days after the collapse at DEI)_

Schnitzel snarled as she managed to push Doofenshmirtz away from the door with the help of some other doctors. It seemed like a full hour had gone by with the struggle that had taken place the moment that Doofenshmirtz had been allowed out of his bed. Having known him long enough, Schnitzel immediately pieced together his intentions, and went for the assault. Doofenshmirtz didn't take it kindly the slightest.

"Heinz, will you CALM DOWN?! You're still not in the condition to-!"

"I CAN DO WHATEVER THE HELL I PLEASE, ALICE!"

The retort came out as a roar, and Schnitzel bid fair-thee-well to her eardrums as did the other doctors who tried to calm Doofenshmirtz's fit of rage. Schnitzel chuckled irritably. "We both know that you're just being crazy," she said, "So why don't you let the nice doctors take you back to bed so you can heal up, okay?"

"DO NOT TREAT ME LIKE THAT, OR I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL END YOU!"

Schnitzel sweated nervously for the umpteenth time that day, and she found herself sighing. "Heinz," she said in a more sympathizing way, "I understand you're worried about Phineas, but you can't just go out there and not expect to be instantly KO'd."

"EASY FOR YOUR TO SAY, YOU FRIGGING BI-!"

"Sir, with all due respect, please," one of the doctors said firmly, "She's right. You won't be able to do much of anything if you go on like this. Your injuries haven't even fully healed yet. The odds of you being able to-"

"Damn those odds!" Doofenshmirtz said, managing to barrel through the group of doctors, including Schnitzel, out of his way as he made it down the hall...for about a minute before he collapsed from exhaustion, something that he had been doing a lot since he was placed into the facility.

Everyone stared at him for a moment, marveling at how he managed to flee farther down the hall than last time, while Schnitzel's thoughts were how desperately stupid Doofenshmirtz was being. She slowly face-palmed, and shook her head sadly. "Oh, Heinz..."

 **A/N:**

 **Well, here we are! The sequel! I know, I posted this at the same time as the one-shot I posted, but I decided to screw it and post this too (hopefully to distract you from the one-shot...I'm serious. I don't know why I put it up. O_O;).**

 **In any case, to avoid confusion, from now on without translators, Perry and Applejack will be talking in** _italics_ **. With their translators, they'll be speaking in their own distinct accents; for Perry, it'll be Scottish ('cause I like him as a Scot), and for Applejack it'll be Southern (since his owner was a southerner).**

 **I'm proud of this first chapter. Really, I am! I'm usually bad at beginnings, but this one seems to be okay! :D**

 **Well, I hope you enjoyed! Please, review, follow, favorite, and have a nice day/evening/night!**

 **-GTS**


	2. Chapter 2

**Heeeeey everyone~! :D**

 **So, Summer is coming to a close; and I'm excited for it! Being homeschooled for a long time, you miss the interaction of human life forms constantly meeting you, whether they're complete doofuses or not. And even though I love my dear family, I need to prove that I am not a total social recluse. Yes, total. Because when your hobby consists of writing fan fics and drawing fan art, and it consumes part of your life, that kinda paints you as a recluse...at least in my parents' eyes. And I then to believe whatever they say, because usually teens do stupid things when they DON'T listen, so...yeah. XD**

 **I mean, let's face it! Our kind, as teenagers, are completely moronic! Tell me that you have NEVER made a stupid mistake in spite your parents warnings, and I may retake my statement, but still; we're kinda screwed up.**

 **Anyways, back to the fic~!**

 **As you can see, I am NO LONGER giving names to the chapters; that's going to be one of the differences between the original product and the rewrite of "Like Father, Like Son". I am TERRIBLE with names, so it makes sense that I avoid them. Also, the line is replacing the "..." for breaking scenes a part, because I feel that it looks nicer. Of course, it may come as a...oh, who am I kidding? Whose gonna freak out over a horizontal line replacing three periods?**

"Phineas and Ferb" **belong to** _Dan Povenmire_ **and** _Jeff "Swampy" Marsh_ **, who both work for** _Disney_ **( _LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!_ )**

 **I own, quite literally, everything else in this fic (except, once again, one little thing. But I assure you, it's probably not that important...*wink*)**

 **Enjoy!**

 **P/F/P/F**

A full week had passed since DEI had collapsed thanks to Ferb's successful bombing. Members of the Resistance that had remained in smaller bases back at Danville, as accorded by Candace, were instructed to check for the body count at the building. Phineas had already mentioned to Candace as they had reunited that those who were in the medical facility of the building were moved to another hospital, aside from the three Cyborgs and himself. He had meant to go on about Doofenshmirtz, but something in him thought better of it.

Upon checking, no bodies were found amongst the chaos. The Mutants by now had already been taken back to Monogram, leaving no traces of life or death within the rubble. As Monogram had previously thought and as Candace had initially feared yet expected, Doofenshmirtz somehow managed to escape. Upon learning this, Phineas was far too relieved for Candace's liking, though they never made conversation of such a thing.

Furthermore, it didn't really matter momentarily; Phineas was just happy to be with his older sister again. He had thought that once he found Candace again, he'd go into a rant about how angry he was that she had left him behind to deal with their insane mother (who, now that he thought about it, only started going mad once Candace herself had left), but instead began to sob into her arms upon missing her so much. Phineas wasn't sure if Candace shed any tears herself, but she was clearly happy to see her younger brother again.

Recovery took only a night of rest, and soon Phineas was introduced to everyone in the main Resistance base, which he soon learned was in a cornfield within Nebraska (to which he promptly responded by asking questions that were never answered). He wasn't really on good terms with Applejack upon what he had been through in the previous story, though in spite this Applejack appeared to like him more than Candace at least, to Perry's surprise. Perry would later learn, to his chagrin, that Applejack LIKED torturing those he "loved" oh so much. It would explain why he seemed to take to Schnitzel violently rather than pestering her, and why he seemed to take his conversation with Candace seriously.

After Applejack, Phineas was introduced to the rest of the members, particularly those closest to his sister, not as friends but as allies. Most of them were younger than Candace, save for the teen members. There were no adults in the team as far as Phineas knew, though Candace DID say that it would change pretty soon once they welcomed another member to the Resistance as an ally. Phineas didn't remember all the names, aside from the ones that Candace deemed the most important:

Buford Van Stomm was the bulkiest of the children, and probably the strongest member of the Resistance. Phineas noted that he had the sheer raw power that Doofenshmirtz could bestow with enough rage, though Buford had even less control. The first encounter seemed friendly enough; Buford trapped Phineas in a headlock, and gave him a noogie. Of course, this nearly suffocated Phineas instantly due to the fat and muscle, though he managed to wriggle himself free.

Buford seemed to be a very confident person, but he wasn't nice either. Candace explained that Buford used to be a bully before Danville was overtaken, and only joined the Resistance upon the disappearance of his parents, who were more than likely dead due to the invasion. In spite this, Buford was probably the most resistant to help out, and had the brain the size of a peanut as a price of his strength and skill with weaponry. Perhaps Phineas' opinion of him was bias; he really didn't like the nickname "Dinner Bell".

Baljeet Tjinder (ahem, _Dr. Baljeet_ ) was probably the exact opposite of Buford, in it that he was scrawny but extremely intelligent. The translators were only a few gadgets that he had created, along with the Super Computer that he had installed in the base recently (though he was still working on the bugs...). Phineas immediately liked Dr. Baljeet, but soon realized that the young scientist was arrogant and took everything way too personally. He just seemed too easily insulted, especially when referred to anything but Dr. Baljeet (with the occasional Dr. _Ninja_ Baljeet when he was feeling particularly full of himself), even if Baljeet was his proper name suited.

Aside from that as well, again, Dr. Baljeet was still very weak compared to other members of the Resistance, in spite most of his inventions being more of prototypes than actual inventions. He also seemed to suffer from anxiety, OCD, and Atychiphobia (fear of failure). In spite this, Dr. Baljeet was arguably the most intelligent of the Resistance, given that he had already passed college (in spite schools being banned) at his young age. He was also skilled in martial arts, given that he wasn't all that physical to be sure, but at least would have some line of defense since his ability to use his own inventions were slim.

Phineas had voiced to Candace that if Dr. Baljeet and Buford teamed up, they'd be an unstoppable force. Unfortunately, Candace had explained that Buford and Dr. Baljeet worked separately because of their dislike for one another that seemed to escalate to pure loathing. Buford would pick on Dr. Baljeet the most, while Dr. Baljeet would fight back with a sharp tongue that would usually lead to a black eye and some bruises, sometimes a broken rib or two. Some of the members would say that they acted like a married couple, to which Dr. Baljeet would roll his eyes, while Buford would try to kill those who even considered that. Least to say, they wouldn't be able to work together any time soon, as far as Candace was concerned.

Then there was Isabella Garcia-Sharpio, the Second in Command of the Resistance, and leader of The FireStorm Girls. She seemed to take her job twice as seriously as Dr. Baljeet did, and barely even acknowledged his existence until Candace grabbed her attention. Isabella appeared to be cold, but Phineas took that as a sign of her working so hard when training the rest of her Troop. Isabella was considered to be as tough as nails, though Candace insinuated on her having a much softer side, to which Isabella gave a retort. Phineas wasn't sure if he felt about her, as the meeting was much shorter than the others he had, and was even shocked to have remembered her full name.

The members of the FireStorm Girls, as Phineas was told, were formed as an inside sector of the Resistance, and their membership was rather specific. They seemed to have a feminist mindset, as only girls were allowed to join the group, though specifically strong, skilled individuals who had to pass a series of intense training in order to be excepted (there was more to it, of course, though the process in itself was very complicated for even Candace to explain). Among all the young women within The Resistance, only seven, including Isabella, were worthy enough.

Phineas would later hear rumors of an eighth member who was tragically murdered during an escapade at DEI, though this was a touchy subject for Isabella to go on, and Candace wouldn't say anything about it. What he managed to learn from it was that the ordeal itself was a horrid one that had traumatized Isabella. Respectively, Phineas back off of the question...for now that is. He was far too curious to let this go unanswered.

All other members were often training, helping with inventions, and other things as well. Among some of the members were Django, who seemed to daydream a lot as it got on a lot of people's nerves, and Irving, who unnerved Phineas for the reason that he just...didn't seem normal to him. Other than that, the names were all blurred to him, and discarded as insignificant. At least for the moment.

The base also doubled as a shelter for those who had escaped Doofenshmirtz's wrath, but wanted nothing to do with overthrowing him, having more concerns for their loved ones than anything else. They would remain there until Doofenshmirtz was finally gone, as Candace put it. Phineas began to wonder if she knew who Doofenshmirtz really was, but as his sister went on, the question never made it out to her. It bothered him, but at the same time he thought it was for the best to make this more private.

Once the introductions were over with, Candace kept Phineas by her side the rest of the day to show him how things worked around the place. The base was very hi-tech for being underground, and was supposedly large enough to reach across the cornfield and over to a cliff side across a town there. Phineas noted that it was probably much bigger than DEI was, but then again there were more buildings such as the Robot Factory that made up for that, and the building itself was tall enough as it was...well, used to be.

The only real questions that Phineas seemed to ask and had answers from was what had happened to Ferb after he dropped Phineas, Perry, and Applejack off at the Resistance base; he had returned back to Danville, where Phineas assumed was where Monogram still was at. Nothing more came from it, however, as Candace wasn't about to tell her brother of the events that led to Ferb being transformed, and even when Phineas recounted the clash between himself and his stepbrother she couldn't find it within herself to admit what had happened. Luckily, Phineas was oblivious enough not to ask any more questions...

...Again, as this was the keyword, _for now_.

* * *

"And this is where you will be staying."

Phineas looked around the bedroom that was simple as it could get; one bed with all the assorted items (covers, sheets, a pillow), a dresser with clothes that he would be expected to wear from now on, as he was told that it was frowned upon to wear the Dooferalls that he had grown accustomed to wearing, and a desk with some books on it to which Phineas assumed was to help educate him as much as possible. Given that he lacked most school-given education along with many members of the Resistance, it made sense that he'd have to learn this along side anything else he would have to do there. Although the room itself seemed bland, Phineas admitted that it was better than sleeping on a cot with complete strangers who were easily annoyed, or possibly mentally disturbed, as was the conditions back at DEI.

"You guys went all out on the place," Phineas whistled, "Given the situation around here, I'm impressed. How'd you make an underground base, anyway? Wouldn't there be a problem with flood and earthquakes?"

"We made special precaution of that," Candace said, "I'm sure Dr. Baljeet will be glad to explain the process to you once he has the free time..." she gritted her teeth, muttering, "IF he has the free time."

Phineas went over to the bed, and placed his hands on it, smiling. "Nice," he said, "Much nicer than the arrangements back in the home state. Very nice, sis, very nice."

"You still need to go more into detail of what happened back there," Candace said, "I swear, whatever HE did, I-!"

Candace looked at her brother, seeing a shocked look etched on Phineas' face. The kind of anger that she had shown was probably alien to him, though she somehow expected him to understand. Despite this, Candace sighed, calming herself down a bit. "I...sorry," she said, "I overreacted."

"It's alright, Candace," Phineas said, "I get it. You and the other Resistance members went through a lot, huh?"

Candace looked at her brother and sighed, nodding. "Yes we have," she said, "Even if casualties were low..." she looked back to Phineas, "Look, let's make this a happy reunion while it lasts, alright? It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"That's an understatement," Phineas frowned, "I was worried about you, you know? I never stopped thinking about it."

"Yeah...I know," Candace showed little emotion, yet Phineas could tell that she was feeling guilty, "And mom? How is she?"

Not that Candace needed an answer, given that Perry had already spoken what had happened to Phineas. When Applejack brought Perry to her, Perry went into a full rant about how he and Phineas escaped the clutches of their currently insane mother, Linda Flynn. Candace was tempted to send a troop to see if her mother was still alive, though part of her feared what they might find. Not to mention that Linda would probably be unstable as is, and they didn't have a place there for the mentally disoriented aside from their prison, and Candace didn't want to have to see her mother behind bars.

Phineas only stared at Candace silently, then looked to the floor. Candace waited patiently for the answer, expecting the worst but remaining reposeful for his sake. Phineas finally answered shakily, "She's...she's not like what she used to be..."

Candace made the decision not to ask further, seeing how flustered Phineas was becoming over the subject. In fact, she mentally slapped herself for bringing it up in the first place. Why did she ask him even though she already knew anyway? Maybe she denied Perry's words for just a moment? It was foolish...

"I understand," Candace said, "We don't need to speak further about that."

Phineas nodded his head mutely. Candace went down to her brother's level, resting her hands on his shoulders. She looked at him through her sunglasses that she rarely removed from her face. Phineas stared back.

"I have to take this opportunity to apologize to you," Candace said, "Had I known that this would've happened to you, I would've taken you with me. I can't help but feel responsible for what you went through, and for that I'm sorry. I hope that you can forgive me."

"What's there to forgive?" Phineas gave a weak smile, "It wasn't all that bad."

"Phineas, you were captured by Doofenshmirtz," Candace said, "What could be worse than that given the circumstances?"

Phineas swallowed a bit, and spoke before he could stop himself. "Really, Candace," he said without really thinking, "It wasn't that bad."

Candace looked surprised while Phineas realized what he used as an answer. The silence was an awkward one, and Phineas cleared his throat instinctively. "Well, uh," he said, "So, how about the rest of the Resistance? Does it branch out in other places, too?"

Candace stared at her brother for a moment, before giving an answer, "Yes. Lots of places. There's probably one base in fifteen states at the least."

Phineas frowned at this, looking confused. "But, why would we need that many recruits?" he asked, "And why so far away?"

Candace opened her mouth to speak when a teenager entered, Phineas barely remembering that his name was Jeremy. "Sir, there's a problem at the north hall," he said, "Apparently Buford thought it was a good idea to mess with the nanobot experiments."

Candace groaned at this. "Again?" she asked, "Oh my god, I swear..." she looked to Phineas, "Sorry, I gotta handle this. Are you gonna be okay?"

Phineas gave a small smile. "Sure I am," he said, "Don't worry about it."

With that, Candace left the room with Jeremy, and Phineas was in the room alone. The boy looked around silently, particularly towards the dresser. He hummed a bit before shutting the door behind him. He looked down to his current outfit.

"Goodbye, Dooferalls..."

* * *

Applejack snickered at the scene before him as Candace practically burst in on the scene, to which Buford quickly tried to lay the blame all on Dr. Baljeet, who responded as only he would. Buford had decided that it would be a good idea to "test" out the nano-bot prototypes, which not even Dr. Baljeet himself could be able to make properly. It resulted in the North hall becoming an utter mess, and a pissed off Candace promising the former bully a devastating end.

Perry pattered in with a cup of coffee, walking over to Applejack as he watched Candace and Buford beginning to argue. As Perry took a sip of his drink, Dr. Baljeet went to get Stacey, who was usually able to quell Candace at least. " _So_ ," Perry said, " _Buford did something stupid again_?"

" _Correct_."

" _Nano-bots_?"

" _You know these things far too well, Perry the Platypus_."

" _Eh, when you gain the title of Best Secret Agent, you tend to run into some imbeciles. I'm used to this_."

" _Uh-huh. That, and you've been here for a while, so THAT may help with how you're used to this_."

" _Has it occurred to you that perhaps Buford is one of those said imbeciles_?"

The two stared at each other for a moment before bursting into fits of laughter. It was enough to grab the attention of Buford, who stopped the argument momentarily in a rage, "Hey! Are those two makin' fun of me?!"

"Don't change the subject! What you did was reckless, Buford! Just LOOK at the place!"

Once the laughter died down, Perry and Applejack sighed. They continued to watch the argument until Stacy arrived with Dr. Baljeet. Applejack grumbled. " _Here comes the fun police_ ," he said, " _Party's over_."

"Well, it's better than this lasting for another hour," Perry said before taking another sip, "Candace and Buford have NEVER gotten along. A daresay their relationship is rockier than the one Candace has with you."

"That's because Buford's tactless," Applejack said, "He may be strong, but he couldn't fight his way out of a paper bag given his strategies."

"And you're any better, how?"

"Has ANYONE been able to stop me from MY pursuits?"

"Well, to be fair, no one's really stopped Buford, so that's not much of an accomplishment."

"Yeah, well, what would you know, beaver-butt?"

"I'm older, goat-breath, so the answer would be 'a lot more than you'."

Perry took another sip of his coffee while Applejack stared in complete shock at the platypus' comeback. Upon not receiving any response, Perry grinned proudly at himself. "Well?" he poked Applejack between the eyes.

Applejack stared. "...You've learned a lot from me," he said, "You're out-trolling me, now. And that bothers me, man. It bothers me."

"That's the point," Perry stated, "And thus, I take my leave."

"Where are you going? Aren't you gonna stick around in case Buford goes in for the kill?"

"I'm gonna check on my youngest owner, duh. And trust me, Candace would kill Buford before the other option arises."

With that, Perry left, leaving Applejack to watch Stacey's weak attempts to split up an argument. Afterwards, he went off to do his usual routine of bugging everyone, sometimes leading to someone giving him a run for his money. Particularly Isabella, who didn't take crap from no one. Speaking of her, Isabella was training the other FireStorm girls when he went to check on her.

The sessions always varied, as Isabella would often come up with ridiculous styles of training that boggled the minds of many. It was one of the reasons why so few were chosen in the first place, given that it was so rigorous. The courses would be decided at random by using a bio-dome, one that Dr. Baljeet himself had designed. Of course, there were bugs here and there, and it wasn't relatively the safest piece of equipment. It often pissed Isabella off whenever the machine would randomly shut itself off while they were in the middle of training, often times leading to injuries, though most were minor.

This time, the bio-dome had created a large rock-climbing course for the girls to pursue. The course was very realistic, and very unstable at the same time. Even though there were many safety provisions, it wasn't enough to give them full protection. One of the girls, namely Adyson, had already sustained a head injury, forcing her to sit out on yet another training endeavor. Applejack trotted over and watched from a safe distance, waiting for the machine to turn itself off yet again so that he could pick on them as he always did.

"Come on, girls!" Isabella shouted, wind blowing in her face, "Just a few more feet up and we're there!"

"That salamanders say that there's gonna be an avalanche, sir."

"Gretchen, snap Adyson out of her delusion!"

"Aye, chief!"

Arguably the smallest of the FireStorm Girls, Gretchen leaped over to Adyson, still tied to her support rope as everyone else was, with skill and precision. She then proceeded to slap Adyson in the face, leading to the taller girl giggling weirdly. Gretchen nearly fell in shock as she adjusted her glasses. "Uh...she's got a pretty bad concussion this time, sir," Gretchen said, earning a groan from Isabella.

"Not again," Isabella sighed, "Alright, alright, pull her down to safety. We'll have to try again later."

The girls all heard a groan from below, followed by a, " _SERIOUSLY?! Before things could get interesting?! Today is going to be SO BORING_!"

Isabella's eyes darted below to see Applejack, who now lied on his back, grumbling. She let out another sigh, full of extra irritation as her mood soured more. "For heaven's sake," she said as she began climbing down, "Do we really need this now?"

"Just ignore him, chief," said another FireSide girl who was known by all as Stacey's younger sister; it was odd that few seemed to know her name outside of the FireStorm Girls, which was Ginger, "He'll go away eventually."

"I dunno," a blonde FireStorm Girl named Katie said, "He DOES seem to be the bad-luck charm of our training sessions...and proud of it...I dunno why, but I feel like his very presence is going to make things worse."

"You are so negative," Ginger said before Isabella could say anything, "What's the worse that could hap-?"

The mass projection of the mountain suddenly disappeared, leading to all the girls falling to the ground on safety mats, all of which popped like balloons upon impact. Three of the girls, Milly, the chubbiest FireSide Girl, Katie, and Gretchen fell on top of Adyson, who whined in agony. Adyson was then immediately taken to the medical facility, while Isabella aimed her sights at Applejack, who laughed in satisfaction.

" _Now THAT'S much better_!" Applejack laughed, " _I didn't even DO anything this time! HA! Dr. Baljeet really needs to work on this thing_..."

Whenever things didn't immediately go wrong, Applejack would find ways to sabotage the FireStorm Girls just to see how they would react. They often reacted with pure rage and mercilessness...well, at least Isabella reacted that way. Speaking of her, Isabella found her face turning red at the very presence of Applejack. The pygmy goat began to trot away. " _My work here is done_ ," he said before hearing the loud screeching of the angry FireStorm Girl Leader rising to his ears, causing him to freeze and start to regret his decision.

Gretchen immediately went to Isabella's side, grabbing her arm. "Chief," Gretchen said, "No, chief, don't fall into-!"

"APPLEJACK!"

With that, the other FireSide Girls, including Gretchen, backed off in fear as Isabella ran straight for Applejack, who ran away as fear finally gripped him. He was later found with many injuries sustained from Isabella's fit of rage. The FireStorm Girls soon were able to get their leader to calm herself, though only Gretchen and Ginger were able to get near her, as all the others seemed to be too scared to go near her. Once back to her normal state, or as calm as she could get at the moment, Isabella ordered everyone to take a break until she fixed the control panel.

However, before Isabella could do anything, Gretchen pulled her leader to the side, holding her down by the shoulders. Isabella looked confused. "What is it, Gretchen?" she asked.

"Chief, you've been acting really weird," Gretchen said, "Applejack didn't even DO anything this time. Sure, he was acting annoying like he always is, but you usually only attack him when he disrupts our training session."

"You're point?"

"Well...I'm just saying that you may be suffering from some anger issues right now. Is something bothering you?"

"No!" Isabella glared; then it softened, "Well...not...ugh, I may still be holding that whole plan of Candace's against her."

"Still?" Gretchen tilted her head, "Chief, it's been a week. And as reckless as it was, it worked out in the end. Why are you so-?"

"She's been putting people at risk left and right," Isabella growled, "I know she's doing it for the greater good, but how far is she willing to go in order to save the Tri-State Area? I mean...doesn't it BOTHER you that she's practically raising up an army?"

"What do you mean?"

"C'mon, Gretchen, you know what I mean. Why else would The Resistance be spreading to different states? She's obviously trying to out number Doofenshmirtz's robot army."

"Well...I guess you have a point there."

"It's more than a point, it's fact! I'm really worried about what's going on in Candace's head right now...what is she exactly going to do?"

"You mean you don't know?"

"Why do you think I'm so worried? She tells me EVERYTHING! I mean, for heaven's sake, I'm second in command! I'm supposed to be trusted with this stuff!"

"Well, maybe she's keeping tabs with Stacey about it? She's closer to Stacey than she is with you, after all."

"I doubt that, somehow..."

"What do you mean?"

Isabella fell silent, wishing that she chose something better to say to Gretchen. The FireStorm leader cleared her throat. "Help me with the control panel," she ordered, "We need to get back to training as soon as possible."

As confused as Gretchen was, she obeyed Isabella's orders without question. Isabella was completely silent throughout the rest of the day, only shouting out orders to the FireStorm Girls as opposed to getting into conversation. Gretchen voiced her worries to the other girls, but they reassured her that it was just a flunk that Isabella was going through, and nothing more. After all, Candace WAS acting a bit weird lately. It was only natural for Isabella to be acting this concerned about what was going on.

But to this, Isabella had to sigh. She knew that there was something much bigger going at play here, but she didn't know exactly what. All she could think about was that door with the initials that she found back when she first joined the Resistance. It seemed like an insignificant memory, but somehow she knew that it had everything to do with this.

 _She_ had everything to do with this.

Isabella kept her promise, though. She'd have to. She wouldn't betray Candace, no matter how questionable her methods were. No matter what, Isabella would remain true.

The young girl sighed.

 **A/N:**

 **I was struggling to find an ending to this chapter, which is why it's probably so crummy to begin with. XP**

 **This story's gonna be a bit tougher than Like Father, Like Son was, given that I'll be writing for characters that I don't usually write for. And they're gonna be pretty major in this story to boot, so that doubles the challenge. XD Of course, I'm pretty sure Buford is EASY to write for, and I've got Candace in the bag. Isabella's okay, too, so far.**

 **...I guess I'm just worried for Dr. Baljeet then? Huh...**

 **Anywaaaaays, I hope you all enjoyed this! :D I'll try to make more soon!**

 **Please, review, follow, favorite, and have a pleasant day/evening/night/whatever as long as you're happy! :D**

 **-GTS**


	3. Chapter 3

**Yo~! Wassup everybody? :D**

 **I don't have much to say right now, actually, other than I'm in the midst of working on a new fan fic. I know; "Galaxina, you twit, why are you longing to stress yourself with ANOTHER fic?!" Well, I have a good reason.**

 **You see, I'm pretty sure that I'm going to be on standbys for this fic, like I was back in "Like Father, Like Son". I want to do something that'll keep me going. Sure, I have "The Memories We Share", but that's more for fun and for developing backstories (particularly for Doofenshmirtz and Schnitzel, so it's not even the entire cast). If I DO end up getting writer's block again, I don't want to get lazy. So, I decided that I should work on another story.**

 **It's NOT Ferb's Goodbye. That fic is dead. End of story. I'm very sorry everyone. -_-;**

 **In any case, let's continue, shall we?**

 _"Phineas and Ferb"_ **belong to** _Dan Povenmire_ **and** _Jeff "Swampy" Marsh_ **, who both work for** _Disney_ **( _LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!_ )**

 **I own literally everything else except for one thing; again, we'll discuss that when it appears.**

 **P/F/P/F**

The first thing that was attended to was getting Doofenshmirtz, Schnitzel, and those remaining at DEI out of the building as quickly as possible. The Norm-Bots had been shut down by Ferb prior to the attack to lessen restraint, as Monogram would've put it. Ferb then proceeded to bury them under anything that could keep them down enough for them to be completely unnoticed by those who may seek for them. They were easily taken down, as the Norm-Bots were probably the densest pieces of machinery there ever was.

However, what Ferb didn't count on was their back-up power, which would turn on if they were shut off for too long of a period. The Norm-Bots were supposed to function 24-hours a day, having parts in their being that kept them from overheating. As a result, the only thing that would be able to shut them off would be if they were destroyed, if someone purposely shut them off, or if Doofenshmirtz had them self-destruct. In case such a purposeful action was taken place (shutting them off, that is) the Norm-Bots were given the function of turning themselves on automatically. Unfortunately, it took a couple hours for them to do so, since the back-up power was weak, though strong enough to get their gears going at least a little.

Schnitzel's injuries were mostly due to what Ferb had done to her while she was trying to defend Applejack. It was enough to almost kill her, though no one seemed too worried about that since she wasn't someone to be killed off with ease. Whatever reason, Schnitzel seemed to be able to deflect any possible death that was to befall her. It was nice, however, when Doofenshmirtz seemed genuinely concerned for her upon her trying to warn him of the events that occurred. Not that he listened to her, anyway, as he went to save his son, only to find him gone just like that.

Doofenshmirtz had nearly been crushed to death by debris, to which he managed to climb out himself before collapsing onto the pile. He was picked up by Norm-Bots, of course, and sent to the same hospital as Schnitzel. Both of his legs were broken, and he was unable to move much in spite his attempts to. Luckily, once Schnitzel was fully healed, even though she still had her stitches to worry about, she was able to fix up his legs easily. However, he'd still need time to heal from the wounds, and it proved to wear thin on his stamina whenever he tried to escape.

And escape he tried, much to both the shock and annoyance of many. Particularly Schnitzel, who knew him longer than anyone else that was still alive.

It was a good thing that he was never able to go too far, though Schnitzel found it almost pathetic. Schnitzel was almost hoping for Doofenshmirtz to make it out of the building, and hours later returning with Phineas somehow. Why? Because he's DOOFENSHMIRTZ; somehow the man could do anything. At least that's how Schnitzel saw it, and to see Doofenshmirtz in the state he was in disappointed her.

It didn't take long for the progress report to be given. The Norm-Bots had begun their work of rebuilding DEI immediately after placing Doofenshmirtz and Schnitzel into the hospital room along with the remaining three Cyborgs, including Pinky, who was still unconscious. Schnitzel had previously stated that he was in better condition than before, but it still didn't change that he was, more than likely, under comatose.

Upon the start of rebuilding, one of the Norm-Bots spotted two Resistance Members spying on their progress. They were both chased off, unable to be detained. Word of DEI's progress would likely be taken to the Resistance Leader, and soon enough they'd take action. Part of Doofenshmirtz hoped for that to come to pass so that he can finally deal with them and so that he could hopefully see his son (and admittedly his daughter as well) again, but another part of him, the part that was more logical than prideful, knew that he wasn't in the condition to fight, nor were the other Cyborgs. The Norm-Bots were strong, yes, but only in large numbers; eventually, Candace would likely attempt to outdo their strength somehow and manage to succeed, especially if it were the Norm-Bots.

The good news was that the Norm-Bots would be able to fix up DEI in a span of three days at the most, which they were indeed able to do in that short amount of time. Once Schnitzel felt up to it, she and Doofenshmirtz, along with others who were injured, were taken back to DEI to finish recuperating under her care. This time, however, Schnitzel asked for the temporary assistance of some of the doctors that had saved their lives before. It was a little odd for Schnitzel to be asking for help after being able to do things on her own for a long time, but Doofenshmirtz thought that it was probably due to the amount of people injured that overwhelmed her.

Their concerns lied mostly with Doofenshmirtz, not only because of his importance to the regime, but also due to the fact that he proved to be very stubborn. As said before, he always tried to escape from bed-rest, which was something he'd do every time he'd get injured. He didn't trust anyone to do the job right, since he was more competent than most people, including Schnitzel, who was prone to setting things on fire during certain situations that he was sure would be set off if he wasn't there to keep an eye on her.

This was different, though, and he was showing that by trying all the more to try to prove that he was alright only to collapse again and again. At first, it was pretty bad, but eventually Schnitzel had grown accustomed to Doofenshmirtz's attitude towards the situation to the point where she barely batted an eyelash to Doofenshmirtz blacking out. Others, in fact most, were secretly hoping that Doofenshmirtz would die so that his reign of terror would end, but he always managed to pull through. It was one of the reasons why Schnitzel scarcely allowed outside doctors to help with this sort of thing, since their trust rather varied.

There was a time where Schnitzel DID have a nurse to help her with her patients, and all worked exceedingly well for her at first. Of course, then one of the Cyborgs got sick, which was something that wasn't too serious due to their organic halves. Of course, the Cyborg was nearly on his death bad no matter what Schnitzel tried to do for him. Eventually, Schnitzel figured out that someone had inserted poison into the medicine that she had been giving the Cyborg, and immediately turned her back on the nurse upon finding evidence that the said nurse had been planning to eliminate the members of DEI from the inside.

The nurse claimed to be doing it all on her own accord, but somehow, for a while, it made Doofenshmirtz just slightly paranoid. Schnitzel, on the other hand, lost faith in having another assistant after nearly losing one of the Cyborgs, and refused any other doctors who wanted to 'help' her. Now, of course, she had no choice but to accept as much help as possible, even with her growing paranoia. Due to that, she made them work on the slaves and servants who were injured instead of Doofenshmirtz and the other Cyborgs. Any of them who would even go near them would gain a cold, unforgiving gaze from the Norm-Bots, who were ordered to eliminate anyone who stepped out of line.

As an added precaution, there was a raise in defenses on the out span of the building, and even in the town itself. More machines had to be built, particularly a form of protection that would last at least until Doofenshmirtz was healed. At least, that's what he said. Schnitzel added in that the Norm-Bots were to have the defense mechanisms last as long as humanely possible in spite her faith in the dictator's strength, and oddly enough Doofenshmirtz didn't seem to disagree. He didn't even threaten Schnitzel for going against his authority yet again while he was injured.

It was then that Schnitzel knew they were on the same page about something. That there was something much bigger at play here, something that would very well bring an end to everything they (Doofenshmirtz) worked for. It was enough to make Doofenshmirtz cautious enough to create a defense, but determined enough to make his own offensive as well. All things considered, Schnitzel was aware that the dictator was willing to do whatever means needed to defend his empire; and now that his son was also in the mix, that fortitude seemed to bolster to ridiculous heights, to the point where even HE seemed unreasonable, fighting his own logic with other forms of logic that went against what he believed in.

* * *

"...Alright. Let me see if I understand your demands."

"Of course."

"After explaining the effects of the healing elixir to you, both beneficial and lethal- -may I emphasize the latter, LETHAL- -effects that is, you want to use it anyway in order to heal your wounds faster so you can get the hell going and find the kid?"

"Yes."

"And along with those risks, which is, by the way, POSSIBLE DEATH BY POISON, you still run the risk of being too weak to handle the Resistance, yet you're willing to go on your own if anyone disagrees with you?"

"Yes."

In spite what she was initially told, Schnitzel kept an even gaze throughout the conversation. Up until now, actually, as she let the mask fall with a single, calm breath, before she practically leapt over to Doofenshmirtz, leaning onto him as her composure fell. Doofenshmirtz, on the other hand, foresaw this reaction, and silently stared at Schnitzel in a calm manner. The doctor was completely pissed off.

"ARE YOU FRIGGING MAD, HEINZ?! You're not thinking this through at all! Why aren't you being your usual smart self, you idiot?!"

Doofenshmirtz looked very unimpressed by Schnitzel, who began to yell into his face about how reckless and stupid he was being, and for once he'd have to agree with her. This went against how he did things, and during something so dire. The elixir Schnitzel had mentioned was one of the many medicines that was created by her to heal injuries for soldiers of the war, years before she helped with taking over the Tri-State Area. It was one of the reasons why she had returned to Gimmelshtump many years ago, while Doofenshmirtz was married to Charlene. She had already talked to Doofenshmirtz about how she made it, and how it would effect the people who consumed it.

"It's been tested, yes," he remembered her saying, "But although it has a fast healing process, there's a strong chance of it causing blood poisoning. That would likely kill anyone consuming it, so it's not even worth using. I'm only keeping it with me in hopes of finding a way of getting rid of those...uh...bugs, I guess."

In spite those odds, however, Doofenshmirtz almost completely ignored those words, and immediately demanded for a dose. Schnitzel reacted as such. "Heinz, think about it like this," she said, "Even if you're healed by the elixir, it's only meant to speed up the healing process. It doesn't just magically make wounds disappear; that part takes TIME. More over that, if it doesn't work, which is likely, it WILL kill you, and it'll kill you slowly and painfully."

Schnitzel leaned forward into Doofenshmirtz's face until his long nose bent onto his lip, while Schnitzel's forehead connected with his own. "Your eyes sockets will bleed," she said, "Your lungs with be punctured, and your limbs will inflate from the amount of blood being pumped through you as your body tries to save itself. Then, you will likely become a blood fountain, with red ooze squirting from your finger tips!"

Schnitzel proceeded to lean back in order to properly wiggle her fingers in Doofenshmirtz's face as she brought up the said red ooze. She glared harder as she went on with her ramble. "And if THAT doesn't end up killing you," she said, "Then your heart will, quite literally, pop like a frigging balloon!"

Doofenshmirtz stared at Schnitzel, who began to pant at the energy she exposed from her ramble. A short silence fell between them, before the dictator broke it. "That doesn't sound like blood poisoning," Doofenshmirtz said blatantly.

Schnitzel twitched, grabbed Doofenshmirtz's shoulders, and began to shake him as hard as she could. "DOES THAT FRIGGING MATTER?!" she yelled, "It's damn reckless of you to be willing to test this thing out, especially at a time like this! If this kills you, then you won't get your son back, and the empire falls a part! DO YOU WANT THAT, YOU INSANE BASTARD?!"

"Of course not," Doofenshmirtz said, "But I don't want to sit around and wait to finish this. If what the sentry said was true, about Ferb taking Phineas, Perry, and Applejack that is...then there's something else going on here. I don't want to gamble time like that if something really is going to happen, and I know it will."

"Yet you're willing to gamble your own life in order to see to it that your son makes it out alright?"

"Alice, if you'd been in my shoes, you'd probably do the same thing."

"Probably, but I'm still not giving it to you. You're gonna have to wait it out."

"Seriously?"

"One, you're obviously insane right now, so what you REALLY need is a smack to the face. I'd be the one to do that, but...I already have done things to you that I know you'll make me regret, so I'm on enough thin ice as it is. Two, believe it or not, I actually _care_ about your well being and stuff, so, there's that. Three, you called me Alice...again...after, like, the hundreds of times I've told you not to, you STILL call me that. And that cannot be forgiven."

Doofenshmirtz leaned against his pillow, crossing his arms as he muttered out swears. His cheeks turned red with anger, which earned a rather temperate gaze from Schnitzel, who was trying to hold back the rants she had been giving the most likely disoriented dictator. "You're being rather immature right now, Heinz," she said in an essentially disappointed tone, "Can't you just wait it out like a man? The kid can handle himself, especially if he's YOUR kid."

Schnitzel had worded it this way in hopes of brightening the dictator up for at least a bit, but Doofenshmirtz wasn't one to be flattered by much of anything; he had a different form of pride that was to say he took things as fact and as they were to be, more as a means to threaten the opposition than to show off. Doofenshmirtz responded to those words with a reproachful huff. Schnitzel glared. "Okay, if that's how you wanna be," she said, "I'll take my leave."

"Go ahead." Doofenshmirtz said casually.

Schnitzel glanced back, her heart burning with rage. No. She was NOT going to let Doofenshmirtz win this one. She. Was. Not.

The doctor smirked at Doofenshmirtz, who kept his even gaze in spite his growing curiosity. Schnitzel reached down for the vile that Doofenshmirtz had been longing to have for himself in a desperate attempt to speed up the process of healing, and immediately the dictator's remaining eye widened. "I'll be taking this as well," Schnitzel said, "We don't want you to be tempted, now, do we?"

With that, Schnitzel left, before Doofenshmirtz could struggle out of his bed, and onto the ground with a thud. Doofenshmirtz's angry growls made Schnitzel giggle as she left down the hall. She knew that she was going to pay dearly for doing this, but she knew that she was doing the right thing in the end. Still, once Doofenshmirtz was out of earshot, Schnitzel suddenly began to sob at what was to come for her.

"I am so dead."

* * *

Underground of Danville lied Monogram's base; or what once was to be his base. Another reinforcement that Doofenshmirtz took was to make all the Norm-Bots immediately attack the said base before Monogram could do anything about it. However, this was something that Monogram had planned for, as he did for everything. His base worked like a series of large tunnels, built for escape with ease. The Mutants that were alive or resurrected were able to carry the remaining corpses of their brethren, while Monogram, Carl, and Ferb escaped via vehicle. Their base was destroyed, yet they had benefits from the disaster as well. The tunnel they escaped through led straight to another base just outside of Danville. It was barely operational, since it was more of a back-up plan that never got perfected, but it was only temporary.

Either way, Ferb now knew what Monogram meant by there being an upcoming war. Doofenshmirtz managing to survive was rather worrisome to say the least, and yet Monogram remained uncaring to the idea. In fact, he actually seemed rather excited by the idea. Carl, on the other hand, shared the same doubts as Ferb, only twice as so. The teen always proved to be a bit of a coward.

It was then that Ferb was given another mission, having to do with returning to the Resistance base. It wasn't only odd to have to return there so soon, but it was also very vexatious. Being given great abilities courtesy of Monogram, it never took long to arrive to the base, so it was relatively short the last time he went. No, what Ferb found to be irritating was that strange feeling he got when he looked at the teenaged girl known only as Candace. He felt burning hatred for this girl, and he didn't know why.

It wasn't that he questioned it anyway, not out loud. Ferb had these thoughts of what it might have been before everything began for him, but he never delved too deep into it, mainly because it would always distract him from what needed to be done. He hated distractions of any kind; the memories of that little red-haired brat came to mind, and the boy snarled. One day, Ferb thought to himself, he'd find reason to kill him. He swore it to himself.

Upon arriving at the base, Ferb was once again met with the hatch hidden within the cornfield. It was a rather strange place for such a place to be in, yet Ferb found it all the more clever, since no one would suspect such a place to be concealed there. Of course, HE found it with ease, but only because he had Perry and Applejack reluctantly tell him where to drop them off. In hindsight, now that Ferb thought about it, Perry and Applejack both clearly regretted their decision of allowing him entry, as was Candace the first time he entered in.

This time was no different, as Ferb opened the hatch door, and began his climb down.

 **A/N:**

 **More Ferb because we didn't get much of him last story. Plus, he gets a bigger role here, so...yeah. Let's hope for the best. XD**

 **So, what is Monogram planning? Muwahahahaha...all in due time, my friends. All in due time.**

 **Please, read, review, follow, and favorite! I will update as soon as possible! :D**

 **-GTS**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'll be honest, the reason why I managed to write this chapter soon after the last one is because I had written some of these scenes before hand for someone who knows of the idea(s) I have in mind for the entire series. In fact, she's given me ideas for how to continue with the books in themselves, and for that I am grateful. She's also given me something else to use at my disposal, which I am excited to use at the time being. I'm just...so...frigging...happeh.**

 **THIS is where the story really starts. So far, things have been mellow, but this is where everything starts going into motion. It's a slow effect, but rest assured it'll be quite epic going onward (you know, depending on how all of you feel about it).**

 _"Phineas and Ferb"_ **are owned by** _Dan Povenmire_ **and** _Jeff "Swampy" Marsh_ **, who both work for** _Disney(c.)_ **( _LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!_ )**

 **I own this story, and my OCs (for now being Dr. Alice Schnitzel, Applejack the Pygmy Goat, and Danni Alexandria Smith)**

 **My friend, who all of you should know well, owns whatever it is I'm about to reveal. _Muwahahahahaaaa...(I don't know why I'm laughing evilly when it's not something bad, but I want to leave you tense.)_**

 **Enjoy.**

 **P/F/P/F**

Upon the technical fourth night at the Resistance base, Phineas found himself staring at a wall in silence. Actually, that's all he could really do, aside from talking with his sister, his pet platypus, and anyone else willing to talk to him. Due to Candace's great knowledge of Phineas' curiosity, she refrained him from exploring the base, not on his own. He wasn't able to partake in anything unless he were to ask if he could join their ranks, much like Ferb had asked Candace. Upon being given this offer, Phineas couldn't help but hesitate.

And it was then that Phineas suddenly had full grasp of the situation. It bothered him greatly, because either way he'd eventually have to choose. He knew that very well. It was either one side or the other; and either way, he'd be against people that he cared about.

Phineas heard the door open from the side, and immediately knew it was Perry. The said platypus pattered in, and jumped onto the bed next to his owner, soon after patting Phineas on the arm as he always did. Phineas was still shocked at the idea that Perry was a secret agent, but after learning of the risks of him knowing, at least at the time, Phineas understood why he had to remain unawares. Still, even though Phineas was happy to see Perry, a small part of him was telling him that this wasn't the platypus he knew.

Luckily, Phineas always shoved those feelings under the rug, and stepped on them for good measure. He trusted Perry enough to understand. Phineas gave a weak smile to the said platypus, who looked happier than usual. "Hey," he greeted, "How's it going?"

"Good," Perry sighed happily, "Every time Applejack pisses off Isabella, I get a few days off from him. Thank the almighty Lord for THAT."

As Perry laughed, Phineas smirked. "After all this," he said, "I would've assumed that you two would be married by now."

"Ap, ap, ap, I get enough of those jokes from AJ," Perry said, sticking out his tongue, "And they're about Doofenshmirtz..." the platypus shuddered, while Phineas stared a bit mortified at the idea of his father and his pet platypus...

Phineas mentally cursed his mind for existing.

"I also noticed that you managed to get your translator back," Phineas said, wanting to quickly change the subject of the matter.

"Yeah, well," Perry sighed, "After the first time I should've known that he would swipe it from time to time."

"Even under his injuries?"

"He's a rebel, almost like Buford. I say 'almost' because I can give him the credit that he's at least smart than that oaf."

"Aw, c'mon, Buford isn't all too bad."

"Uh-huh..."

"I mean...YEAH he always messes with equipment, and never listens to anyone, and...okay, maybe he's a little...no. You're right. He's pretty bad."

Perry gave a silent nod, though Phineas still smiled a little. "But he's not...horrible at least," he shrugged.

"Accept to Dr. Baljeet," Perry stated with an eye-roll, "Those two are gonna kill each other one day, I swear."

Phineas wanted to correct Perry and say that it would be Buford killing Dr. Baljeet, but then the thought arose of Dr. Baljeet's many weapons that he could probably learn to use. Maybe there was a chance then. Of course, Phineas doubted that Candace would let that happen, anyway.

"So...I never asked this," Phineas said, "What is it that you do here, anyway?"

"I suppose I help Applejack with stuff around here," Perry shrugged, "Apparently, he was placed in Danville as well, along with the Resistance Members still remaining there. Their base was in the Graveyard, though he never explained where those members may have been at the time. Heck, I don't think he even told them that we left."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I get the feeling that they were probably complaining about him skipping some sort of job, or something, because that about all I heard from Candace while she was scolding him. I'm not sure if he's gonna go back to Danville or not, if you're asking."

"Would you miss him if he did?"

"...Not really," Perry said, "I mean, things would be quieter here, but I prefer that over his annoyingness."

"True that," Phineas chuckled, shaking his head, "Hm...you know...I wonder what Candace is doing right now?"

"She's with Isabella," Perry answered what he supposed was actually a rhetorical question, "They're talking about something important with the other FireStorm Girls. Something about their training, or something like that."

"Is she now?" Phineas smiled a little, "That's interesting...think that she'd mind if I see what they're chatting about?"

"Of course she would mind. But you're siblings, so I'm pretty sure that you can get away with this sort of thing. She's probably in her chambers."

Phineas nodded, jumped off his bed, and began to walk away before pausing. He turned and glared at Perry. "If you rip up my sheets _again_ ," he said, "I swear to God, I'll personally declaw you."

Perry gulped and hopped off of Phineas' bed, nervously walking out of the room upon Phineas pointing. The boy rolled his eyes, wondering how such a serious agent such as Perry would fall prey to his own instincts (of a different animal, no less), and went to look for his sister which wasn't that hard. With little to go to at this point in time (at least without getting lost), it wasn't too difficult to remember where his sister would often be at.

After a while of walking, he was seen peering through the door of Candace's room, which was much bigger compared to the other rooms, and looked more like an office that he had scene before with Doofenshmirtz and Monogram (what was with leaders having offices, anyway?). There was no bed, Phineas assuming that either she didn't sleep anymore, or, simply by rumor, slept like a horse, and did it while standing against a wall for support. Of course, those two things were debunked once he noticed a mat rolled up underneath Candace's desk. He was nearly disappointed by this, but he supposed that it was still odd enough.

Candace was currently pacing back and forth, rubbing her hands nervously as she began to ramble on to herself. Phineas could only guess that she was planning something to herself, which she would likely recount back with the other members to be sure she was in the right, not that she would listen to their warnings. At least, that's what Buford had said once. He wasn't sure if he could count on Buford's advice, though.

Phineas closed his eyes, and let his ears tune into Candace's voice, another part of his brain remembering an annoying chime that Schnitzel would sing to him and Doofenshmirtz: _Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated~._ Phineas softly laughed at the memory of Doofenshmirtz smacking Schnitzel in the back of the head for making fun of him, especially after Schnitzel revealed that it was Doofenshmirtz himself who had come up with the jingle during their high school year. Phineas snapped out of his thoughts as he suddenly realized why the thought of those two had come to his head so quickly.

Candace was talking about them.

Phineas leaned more in as Candace went on, her voice sounding more panicked. Was she panicking? Phineas began to realize that, yes, she must be. But why would-?

"They're alive?"

Candace suddenly turned her head to Phineas, who wasn't able to keep himself silent. If he was a ninja, he'd be the worst of them all. Phineas figured that it would be something that Doofenshmirtz would say...maybe Schnitzel...but then he shook his head and entered the room, Candace looking unnerved. "Candace..." Phineas said carefully, "Is it true?"

"...How long have you been standing their?" Candace asked a bit quietly, looking away.

Phineas slowly walked over to his sister. "I...I just got here, actually," he said, "I wanted to see how you were doing."

Candace nodded in understanding. "Of course...of course," she sighed, "How much did you hear?"

"I heard you talking about some of the Resistance Members checking out DEI and stuff," Phineas said, "Only now, though, did you get the information about..." he couldn't help but smile a little, though Candace didn't seem to notice, "...Doofenshmirtz is alive?"

"...Yes," Candace said with regret, "He is..."

"And what about his partner?"

"Dr. Alice Schnitzel? She survives everything, so if Doofus managed to make it, she definitely did."

Phineas let out a sigh that went finally noticed by his sister, who looked at her brother. Candace sighed. "You...you know, don't you?" she asked, "Is that why you haven't been...?"

"...You mean...you knew too?" Phineas tilted his head, "Then...then why do you...?"

Candace stared at her brother for a moment. It was a strange silence between them both, as she went done to her knee. Phineas spoke again before she could, "So...they're okay? They're both alright?"

Those words felt like a knife to the gut for Candace. Her brother caring about her greatest enemy...their father. It was to be expected, but not after everything that Phineas must've gone through. What happened back there that made Doofenshmirtz on such good terms with Phineas?

"Phineas," Candace said, "I...I want to tell you something."

Phineas nodded to Candace, showing her that he was listening. Candace gave a small nod back. "I want you to forget everything that happened back at DEI," she said, earning another confused look from Phineas, "Whatever you think he is, it's a façade, alright? He's just going to hurt you, like he tried to before."

"Before? What do you-?"

"It doesn't matter, okay? It's over now. All of this. You're not going to be trapped with them anymore."

Phineas looked saddened, and that made Candace feel even worse. It felt as bad as betrayal, yet she felt like she want to murder Doofenshmirtz for making her brother feel this way. After he took her home, and took the lives of hundreds, she could never call that man her father. "Please, understand, Phineas," Candace said gently, "Things are a lot more complicated than they seem right now."

"But, Candace, he's our-."

"He's not," Candace said sternly, "He had his chance, and then THIS," she looked around the room, recalling how she gained the position as leader to begin with, "Had to happen...I know that what he's gone through must've been awful, but it doesn't change what he's done."

"Maybe he's...sorry?"

Phineas actually doubted that, but part of him wanted to believe that Doofenshmirtz regretted his decision of taking over. It wasn't likely, though, and Phineas knew that he was only thinking this way because, again, he cared about Doofenshmirtz. But he cared about Candace too, and he paid attention to the look in his sister's eyes.

"I'm telling you for the last time, Phineas," Candace said, "Just forget about him, and his partner, and everything else that happened back there. It's for the best that we leave those memories behind, and look forward. If not for yourself, then for everyone here."

Phineas stared up at Candace, and then looked down to the ground. He didn't know if this was right or not, but he wanted to make his sister happy. Just like before this all came to pass. "...Okay, Candace."

Candace pulled Phineas into a hug, and for some reason that made him feel so sick inside.

* * *

Everything just suddenly started hurting, and Phineas couldn't tell why. It felt so familiar, this pain, yet he couldn't quite put his finger on it. It felt like he was being pulled back into reality...being pulled into reality from reality? How did that even work? And why so suddenly?

Why couldn't he remember?

"Kid...kiiiid...Phineas?"

"Ugh...my head...please, stop poking me."

"You've been out for another twenty-four hours; we really need to get that checked, you stupid kid."

Phineas' eyes shot open at the sight of none other than Schnitzel, who giggled at the boy's shock. He quickly glanced around the room to see that he was back in DEI's hospital room, in which many patients lied asleep, who watching Phineas carefully from their beds. Yet when Phineas went to look at them, some of them fearfully looked away, while other began to go into random conversations with everyone else. He looked back to the person who called him back to life.

Schnitzel crossed her arms, smiling a warm, yet cynical smile that Phineas grew to love. "I swear," she said, "We nearly lose you every time...I guess our worry means that we actually CARE about your well being. Who kn-?"

He wasn't going to deny why he clung to Schnitzel of all people, even if she was the only person in the room. Phineas was just glad to see her alive and well. Now that he thought about it, unlike his father, he never got a chance to properly talk to Schnitzel again after the attack. He didn't think about it until just now, as he spoke with her. "You're alive..." he said, "Thank god, you're alive..."

Schnitzel gave a weird grin before she decided to hug the stupid kid back, shaking her head. "Jeez," she said, "You act as though you've seen a ghost."

Phineas paused and pulled away for a second, staring up at Schnitzel, tilting his head. "You're...you're not one, are you?" he asked.

"Uh...I don't think so," Schnitzel said, "Kid are...you alright?"

"I...I...DEI collapsed, and...and...you and dad..."

"Whoa, whoa, kid, you're crying!"

Phineas was shocked when he felt Schnitzel trying to wipe his eyes instead of teasing him for being emotional. However, it wasn't as weird as Schnitzel suddenly sitting on his bed, pulling him close to her into a hug. "It's okay," she cooed, "It's alright...it's going to be alright, Phineas."

The boy seemed to freeze up at the sudden touch, not sure of how to react. Schnitzel ever so calmly began to explain the situation to him. "Ferb escaped DEI," she said, "Perry and Applejack are both gone as well, though we're not sure why. We barely managed to keep you away from him before he nearly blew up the building again."

"Is...is everyone...?"

Phineas suddenly felt a little tired, thought he didn't know why. Schnitzel managed to catch him before he fell back to darkness, seeming to light up the room again with her very gaze. It seemed so motherly, so kind...was Schnitzel ever like this before? Maybe he never noticed how much she cared in the past. She hugged him again.

"Let's not worry ourselves," Schnitzel said sweetly, "We're okay now. That's all that matter."

The boy felt like this hug was invading his personal space, but he decided that he'd let it pass for now, and he leaned onto Schnitzel's side. She felt soft, now that Phineas thought about it. A small smile went on his face as he fell to peace, almost completely forgetting about Candace. Maybe, in his head, he hoped that they were miraculously getting along, instead of it all being-

"Where's dad?"

Phineas suddenly asked this, cutting off his thoughts automatically. Schnitzel stopped stroking the boy's head, freezing up at those words. After a bit, it worried Phineas, who looked up. "Schnitze-?"

"Please, don't ask about that anymore, Phineas."

Phineas was taken aback as Schnitzel's form was replaced by Linda's. For a moment, his mother looked calm and serene, but the moment that he allowed his fearful memories to take over, she suddenly glared and smacked him to the ground. Phineas gasped as he hit the floor, Linda suddenly towering over him cruelly.

"DON'T TELL ME TO CHEER UP, YOU WORTHLESS LITTLE-!"

Linda began to say horrible things, while she began mercilessly kicking her son from the side. Phineas cried out in pain, begging for her to stop. He had no control, however, and Linda continued for it until she suddenly stopped on her own. Phineas thought that she was going to go back upstairs from the basement to get another drink (of what was it that Schnitzel once called it...booze?). Instead, to his horror, Linda rose up her foot over the boy's head, preparing to crush it like a bug as an unfamiliar grin graced Linda's maddened face.

"Oh, god, please, MAKE IT END!"

Phineas suddenly screamed this without having the words actually leave his mouth. Phineas curled up onto the ground, waiting in a paranoid mantra for his mother to end his life effortlessly to make things easier for the both of them. The blow never came, and suddenly Phineas lifted his head and was met with the face of a mutant. He blinked, and Linda was back, ready to kill.

What was going on?

What the HELL was going on?!

Suddenly, he felt a warm embrace from Linda. Phineas' eyes widened in shock, as the voice seemed to morph into someone else familiar. He gasped as he saw Doofenshmirtz's in Linda's place, with no transition to be made. Doofenshmirtz was crying for some reason, and that in itself was weirder than anything else in this...whatever it was. Phineas was certain now that it wasn't real, yet...

"I'm sorry, Phineas, I'm just so sorry..."

 _"Daddy just did a very bad thing just now..."_

"...I could've saved you, but I didn't."

Phineas was shocked to see that they were now in Vanessa's room. To the side was a corpse, and holding him was an insane looking Doofenshmirtz, who was all shaken up. "I...I didn't mean it, I..." Doofenshmirtz cried harder than Phineas had ever seen him sob and shake, "I'm sorry, Vanessa...I'm sorry...I'm sorry Marissa."

Wait, what?

"Kid?"

Phineas snapped out of it as he looked back into the eyes of Schnitzel, now with Doofenshmirtz having entered the familiar scene. Phineas felt like crying really badly. They were still gone from his life right now. They weren't with him actually, were they?

Yet, they both smiled reassuringly, especially Doofenshmirtz, as his hand reached out and wiped the tears away from Phineas' eyes, hushing him calmly. He said nothing, and didn't need to. Schnitzel spoke for them both, in a voice that sounded so genuine, he didn't know if he could disbelieve them.

"We'll come get you. We promise."

Then Dennis the Mutant Rabbit came in and ate them.

* * *

Phineas shot his head up, and began to pant heavily while he snatched the chest of his shirt as if he were having a heart-attack. He looked around for his father, realizing then that it had only been a dream. In fact, Phineas figured that it was the middle of the night by now, and that he was ruining a good night's rest. Phineas groaned, sliding his hands to his eyes, shaking his head.

"Why do I have to complicate things...?" his hands dropped and he looked to the side, "I mean...it's over now, isn't it? I won't have to think about it, or even ask about it, or wonder about it at all...I can just forget all about it, like Candace said...yet..."

Phineas sighed again, and plopped his head back on his pillow, the sleeping arrangements being much better here than back at DEI. Why did he miss it, then? Why did he spend every waking moment wondering how they were doing? Not just Doofenshmirtz or even Schnitzel, but literally everyone back at that awful place; even the Cyborgs, like Pinky, hadn't left his mind. He missed them, in spite everything.

It's just that he missed Doofenshmirtz the most. He couldn't help but feel that he'd probably be like this regardless of whether or not Doofenshmirtz was his father. Along with Schnitzel, he had seemed to speak and, dare he say, bond with Doofenshmirtz the most. True, he told Schnitzel everything, but that was because he trusted her more than anyone else there. Doofenshmirtz, on the other-hand, was someone he could relate to, in a strange way...then again, it wasn't that strange. He was Doofenshmirtz's son after all.

Yes, that was still bothering him, especially since it all made so much sense. Doofenshmirtz was evil and cruel, and Phineas would never stoop to such levels, yes. But in the end, they've both have had some kind of agreement unspoken of to each other. There had to have been; why else would Doofenshmirtz tell Phineas, of all people, about Vanessa? His...his sister...oh, god...the more he thought into it, the sicker he became.

It was an awful feeling, learning that a little girl had died in her own bedroom; but the fact that she was his sister made it even worse. He never had a chance to meet her...

What was that other name? It probably didn't matter, but Phineas wondered why his brain seemed to mispronounce Vanessa's name with...ugh...he couldn't remember...it wasn't important. Phineas shook his head again with a sigh.

"Ugh..." Phineas sat back up, and slid out of bed, "I need a drink..."

He was about to walk to the door, when he automatically froze at the sound of footsteps. If it was Candace, he'd have another lecture about getting rest or something about their father, which was the last thing he wanted. He wanted to stop thinking about that for a bit; it'd already been a week, and he'd been thinking so much about it, he wished that it could all just go away.

Instead, through the open door, which he left out of tiredness from the day's activities, he witnessed Isabella, stealthily sneaking through the halls. Phineas remained still, as Isabella went passed his room, without so much as a glance. He blinked in wonder, and tiptoed over to the door, peering over as Isabella just barely disappeared around a corner. As usual, curiosity got the better of him, and he seemed to accordingly follow Isabella, who was none-the-wiser of his presence.

Phineas silently peered his head from the corner of the hall.

Isabella, after shifting her eyes a bit, sighed, and stomped the floor three times, and a flight of stairs opened up in the ground.

Phineas felt his jaw drop. He wasn't sure whether to be shocked that there was a flight of stairs that he wasn't told about, or the fact that there was another floor to the already underground base. Either way, it seemed a little out of place. Why hadn't Candace told him about this before? Was keeping secrets a running theme, or something?

Isabella descended down the flight of stairs. Phineas waited a moment, before slowly walking over to the opening. He peered over, and watched Isabella, as she knocked on a door that was at the bottom. "Hey, Marissa," Isabella called softly, "I got food for ya'."

Moments later, the door opened, and Isabella entered the room. The door shut, eliciting Phineas to quickly walked down the steps himself. He stared at the door, and began to walk over to it. Two red letter were written on the door, Phineas noted. "...M and F..." Phineas murmured, "The M is for...Marissa...where have I...?"

The door began to open once more, and Phineas immediately ducked for cover under the flight of stairs. He held his breath instinctively. Isabella glanced back to a figure. "I'll be back later tomorrow," she said, "Rest well, alright?"

"...Yes," said a voice, "I will...sure..."

Isabella blinked, then shook her head. "I...I'm really sorry about all of-"

"It's...not your...fault," Marissa said slowly, "I don't...blame...anyone...Candace is...only...trying to...protect me, after...all..."

Isabella seemed to glare at this, though it never went noticed by anyone by Phineas himself. "...Yeah," Isabella finally said, "I'm sure she is."

Isabella went back up the stairs, glancing back as Marissa shut the door once more. Isabella let out a sad sigh, and kept walking. She shut the opening from above, earning a rather freaked out look from Phineas. How was he supposed to get out now?!

"Oh well," Phineas whispered to himself, "I guess there's no use..." he looked to the door, "...I wonder..."

Phineas crawled out from under the stairs, and headed over to the door. Being rather specific, Phineas knocked on the door the same way Isabella did. It earned a confused noise from inside the room. "Isabella..." the voice said, "What...is it?"

The door opened again, making Phineas back away a bit. "I do...not need any...thing..."

Marissa slowed down further as she began to stare at Phineas in shock. Phineas himself stared at Marissa, slowly realizing the resemblance that she had with Candace. Phineas looked at Marissa from head to toe, while Marissa proceeded the other way around. They looked curiously at each other. But only one seemed to become increasingly excited at this.

It wasn't Phineas.

Marissa let out a gasp, and pulled Phineas into the room, shutting the door behind her. She practically slammed Phineas onto her bed, earning a squeak from the boy, who looked shocked. Marissa's grin went wide. "It's YOU!" she said clapping her hands together, "You're the boy that Isabella talked about!"

Phineas blinked. "Uh...hi?"

Marissa ignored the greeting, and began to look at Phineas as if he were a valuable artifact that had never been discovered until that point. "I've not seen a boy in years!" Marissa said, more to herself than to Phineas; she patted Phineas's head, giggling, "Ooh, you're hair is so soft!"

Phineas blinked as Marissa began to ramble on and on about certain aspects that normal people wouldn't really care about. The boy blinked. After a while, Marissa seemed to calm down, and she folded her hands once more in front of her skirt, almost becoming shy once more. Her smile calmed as well. "It's...Phineas, right?"

Phineas continued to stare for a moment, before coughing. "Uh, well...yeah," he said, "My name's Phineas. And...and you're-?"

"Marissa," the girl said immediately, "And I apologize for my...uh...outburst. You see, I don't get many visitors aside from Isabella and Candace. Oh, and then...there's..." the excitement turned to fear for a split second, before Marissa seemed to turn completely back to normal. It was as if something had ruined her good mood.

Phineas tilted his head. "...There's...?"

Marissa smiled, weaker than before. "Oh, let's not talk about that," she said, "Let's talk about YOU."

"...Me?"

"Yes," Marissa said, as if it were obvious, "I mean, c'mon, you must know plenty about me already, otherwise you wouldn't be down here," Marissa turned away for a moment, "The LAST time someone knew about me without Candace's consent..." she shuddered, "Ugh, I don't wanna go there..." she then whimpered, "It's too bad to think about, you see."

She turned back to Phineas. "So, Phineas," Marissa went on, "Mind telling me about yourself?"

Phineas stared for a moment, before smiling a bit. Something about this girl made him feel better, though he didn't seem to know of why. She seemed like someone he'd know, someone he must have known. The question: from where?

"...Well..."

 **A/N:**

 **Marissa Flynn (OC) is owned by Marissa Flynn (author).**

 **From now on, that notification will show up in this book. I know, many of you probably hate me for using an outsiding OC, but I say "screw you" because I absolutely LOVE Marissa (OC), because she's just flipping adorable to me! X3**

 **Also, DO NOT ask me to put your OC in my story; she didn't ask me, I asked her. And let me just say that I was going to make an OC to be Phineas' sister anyway. Yes, I was going into that trope and stuff, but trust me, she's needed oh-so very much. Not gonna go into detail as of yet, but again, DON'T ask me to put in your OC, in case this confuses you. I'm sure I'd love your OC, but I simply don't have use for them in this story. I'm sorry. :(**

 **Hope you all enjoyed!**

 **Please, review, favorite, follow, or whatever, and have a nice week!**

 **-GTS**


	5. Chapter 5

**BEST! WEEK! EVER!**

 **GRAVITY FALLS! STEVEN UNIVERSE! ANNIE AUDITIONS! AAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!**

 **...And now for an update. 83**

 _"Phineas and Ferb"_ **are owned by** _Dan Povenmire_ **and** _Jeff "Swampy" Marsh_ **who both work for** _Disney(c)_ **( _LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!_ )**

 **Marissa Flynn owns Marissa**

 **and I own literally everything else this story has to offer. 83**

 **ENJOY!**

 **P/F/P/F**

Marissa Flynn was none other than the younger sister of Candace Flynn; she wasn't famous for gaining that privilege of relations, however. In fact, very few people seemed to know who she was, given that she never seemed to leave her room, which she was placed in at a very young age. So young, in fact, that it had effected her greatly. Instead, the few who knew about her knew her as "the prisoner".

Yes. This story is actually about her, or rather her entrance to all the chaos.

At a glance, she'd look like any ordinary member of the Resistance. She had long hair that was tied in a pony-tail, while her bangs were covered with a grayish headband, her outfits was significantly similar to Candace's, other than he gloves of course, and she wore glasses. She had this appearance because she did, in fact, use to be a member of the Resistance, though she wasn't exactly of much help due to lack of training. Candace barely even allowed Marissa to go outside, much less go out on the field to face Doofenshmirtz.

Of course, there was one time that she was given a chance to prove herself. One time where she was allowed to face up the evil dictator and his partner...and she failed. It being the point where Danni was murdered (in front of her eyes, no less), Marissa was kept under even more surveillance. Many members of the Resistance, including Ferb back when he was sane, had revoked this treatment, but Candace was desperate. She didn't want to lose anyone, perhaps, to anything or anyone; least of all Doofenshmirtz.

That's when Ferb left and was nearly killed by the Norm-Bot army, being left to die by Candace, who felt betrayed. Afterwards, Monogram, who had the Amnesia-Inator working at the time, found Ferb and managed to "fix" him. Candace still didn't know exactly what Monogram did to her brother, but she had to admit, as horrid as it was, she was impressed at Ferb's undying loyalty to Monogram. Monogram was willing to help Candace with her decision, under the conditions of forming a small, temporary alliance, to which Candace agreed with.

Candace would be able to use a smaller version of the Amnesia-Inator, one of which was of her father's own design, while Monogram would be able to keep Ferb around to do his dirty work. It was foolish of her, but Candace honestly thought that Ferb was okay at the time. She didn't know that he had drastically changed into what he currently was until much later. In spite this fact, however, Candace and Monogram soon became good friends.

Upon erasing everyone's memories of Marissa's existence, Marissa was put back in a furnished underground room, hidden from the rest of the world and never to be found. True, she had always lived in that room with no mind in the past, but this was different. It saddened Marissa to no end, probably even put her in a form of depression. She had lost a dear friend to her, as well as a chance to finally free herself from what she realized were shackles. Yet if there really was nothing she could do about it, then she truly didn't mind, as much as it hurt her to say that.

It wasn't a total loss, of course, given that she now had a friend in Isabella, who had found her about a year ago, two months after Danni's death. They hadn't really formed a bond before Isabella's memories of Marissa were erased, so Marissa knew as much about Isabella as Isabella knew about her at the time. Still, in spite their visits being short, they still forged a friendship. So, really, Marissa shouldn't be complaining much about this.

But deep in her heart, she wanted to scream at her sister for not thinking that she could handle herself well enough, and completely ruining her social life in a whole. Not that she was caring too much about how others viewed her, at least not as much as how she could communicate with others. A lot had happened to her in spite her own life being completely and utterly pointless beyond redemption. She was well-read, sure, but that didn't really help with how she'd talk to the few that would come down to see her.

Marissa had a very hard time speaking as a result of her isolation, and often times forgot how to say words which led to her very slow speech patterns. There was the exception where she was excited or passionate about something, though this in itself was rare, and such a time would be where she'd not only speak correctly but quickly as well; so even though she'd be able to speak correctly, she was never able to speak clear enough while in such a hyperactive manner unless you were to pay enough attention to the movement of her lips. Another effect that the whole ordeal had on her was, again, in spite being well read (half of her room was littered with books that Candace would bring up and down to her depending on her progress with them), she knew very little about things, and seemed almost a little loopy from the lack of human contact.

Scratch that; she was totally loopy. In fact, she could probably fit in with everyone who was ever effected by Doofenshmirtz's tyranny, only she was a bit more eccentric. Phineas wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but he managed to like her nonetheless. Even if Marissa sort of unnerved at first meeting, since the girl who he just met proved already to be extremely clingy, he still managed to find a lot to like about her, though he'd be lying if he said that part of the reason why he first started to interact with her to begin with was out of curiosity of her origins.

Phineas didn't remember having yet another older sister. Her existence was never even brought up, much less proven of. He'd literally gone all of his life without knowing who this girl was, and yet with her resemblance to his other sister, Candace, he was immediately put two and two together. The only reason why he was so hesitant to ask if Marissa knew anything about him was because, one, Marissa seemed far too oblivious to be able to come to that conclusion herself, and two, Phineas was actually considering Marissa to be a clone of both Candace and Vanessa.

His strange, bizarre theory was that Marissa was created by his two older siblings' genetic codes somehow, leading to Marissa's creation. Marissa would therefore be genetically enhanced to be some sort of secret weapon who didn't know about her capabilities. As time would go on, however, he'd soon realize how ridiculous that theory was, as many things would debunk it quickly. For now, he'd have to figure out how to confront Candace about all of this...if he COULD confront her at all, that is.

What was he supposed to say? "Hey, Candace, I just learned that you've been locking up a girl underground and shit, how come you never told me about it, huh?"

She kept this detail from him for a frigging reason, and Phineas was pretty damn sure that there would be consequences once anyone figure out that he found Marissa in the first place. So he said nothing about it, and decided that this should probably be a one time thing. That didn't mean that he ended up keeping the vow, of course, after realizing that Marissa must be lonely if she was kept in her room all the time. Besides that, it did give him something to do while he was in the base anyway.

The questions were still there, of course, but he'd find a way to solve this. Somehow. He just knew it.

* * *

Schnitzel pulled down her green glove over her hand, and did so for the other as she hummed to herself a rather catchy tune. With her were three doctors from the other hospital that she had so reluctantly allowed to help with things in DEI until everything was fixed. Of course, her trust in them had grew rather rapidly during their stay. I mean, how could it not? What she was currently trying to do meant that of course she had to trust them enough to do the job.

"Are you...sure you want to do this, Miss Schnitzel?" one of the doctors, a woman with blonde, curly hair, named Mrs. Johnson (or WAS Mrs. Johnson before her husband died) asked, "I mean, you've never left the state ever since Doofenshmirtz took over, much less leave the building by yourself."

"Well, it's either me or Doofenshmirtz," Schnitzel said, "And we all know that Doofenshmirtz is gonna keep trying unless he knows that his kid is safe...which reminds me, has anyone found out about-?"

"-No. We'll make sure that the information doesn't spread to anyone."

"You better. If anyone, and I mean ANYONE finds out Phineas' relations to Doofenshmirtz..."

Schnitzel bit her bottom lip at the thought of what might happen. She wasn't sure if they'd hail Phineas as their savior since he'd probably be the future heir to DEI, or completely turn on him for 'betraying' them. Everyone who was effected by Doofenshmirtz's reign were considered unpredictable, some even dangerous. Luckily, so far, those who had gone insane were put in an asylum at the end of Danville...all except for Linda, of course. But Schnitzel wasn't thinking about that right now.

The point was that simply being related to Doofenshmirtz ran the risk of the kid getting hurt. It would definitely lead to something even more disastrous if they managed to get away with it as well. Worse still, Schnitzel knew that with their luck, the information would spread to people, and they'd have no idea how they'd view the situation. No one ever thought that Doofenshmirtz would have a son.

"We understand," Mrs. Johnson nodded, "We won't let anyone else figure this out."

"Good," Schnitzel nodded, almost eyeing them, "And as for Doofenshmirtz...I want you to keep an eye on him at all times, and keep him out of the medicine cabinet in my room."

"Why do you have a medicine cabinet in your room?"

"'Cause I'm a doctor...what...don't...don't any of you have..."

An awkward silence filled the air before Schnitzel cleared her throat. "Ahem...well, then," she said, "This is...ugh, just make sure he doesn't leave his bed. I don't care if this means staying up at all hours in order to monitor him, just make sure that he doesn't leave until he's completely functional."

"But, what about you?" Mrs. Johnson asked, "You're still injured yourself. Your stitches haven't even been removed yet."

"I'm still in better health than Doofenshmirtz is," Schnitzel said, "And there's NO WAY I'm trusting you to go and rescue his son, either."

"And why not?" a fatter doctor named Porkins asked, "I'm a pretty good pilot myself, and you know that."

"Because I also know you're a good shot, Piggy," Schnitzel smirked, "And as I've come to discover, you've all been secretly practicing several forms of combat. I know this because I saw your training room underneath the hospital."

The three doctors were silent at this before Schnitzel crossed her arms. "I'm sorry, but I don't trust you around the kid now that you know who he is," Schnitzel stated, "At least here you'll be monitored by the Norm-Bots. Oh. And by the way-"

Schnitzel leaned at the three doctors menancingly. "If ANY of you, A-NY-ONE of you, harms one hair on Heinz's head," she growled, "The Norm-Bots WILL destroy you. I've put them on defense mode, which will change to offense mode if they sense a drop of Doofenshmirtz's blood. So, you understand your situation, yes?"

The three doctors nodded nervously at Schnitzel, whose smile returned to her face as she began patting Mrs. Johnson on the head. "Good, good," she said in a more friendly tone, "Then I trust that you'll do your best."

"You're still hurt, though," Mrs. Johnson said, "If anything happens to those stitches-"

"I know the consequences," Schnitzel said raising a hand up to silence Mrs. Johnson, "Don't worry about it too much. I know how to handle injuries."

With that, Schnitzel left in an airship, one that Doofenshmirtz had designed himself as a form of camouflage in the sky (in spite it being purple and green with the "Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated" logo on it), screaming to herself mentally how stupid she was being. Then again, Doofenshmirtz was being rather reckless lately, and she figured that this was their best option. She'd be lying if she said that she wasn't worried about Phineas' current state, even though she knew that the Resistance probably wouldn't hurt him.

Wait...probably...was there even a chance? Why did she feel the need to bring that up, even? Did...Candace was Phineas' sister, wasn't she? She wouldn't...she wouldn't...

Schnitzel shook her head. "Just don't think about it," she mumbled, "What's the worst that could happen, huh?"

* * *

"So...you know...what clouds are?"

"Yeah. They're a visible mass of liquid droplets or frozen crystals made of water or various chemicals suspended in the atmosphere above the surface of a planetary body."

"..."

"...They're fluffy white things in the sky."

"..."

"...They remind your of marshmallows mashed up into pillows?"

"Marsh...mallows?"

"...Do they ever FEED you in this dump?"

"Well, of course...they do! I wouldn't...be alive...if they didn't...uh...feed me," Marissa giggled slowly at Phineas' silliness, "They...feed me...plenty."

It honestly bothered Phineas that as soon as Phineas had started talking about himself during their first encounter, Marissa's energy seemed to have depleted, and she returned to speaking in a slow, mechanical manner. There would be times where she appeared to be struggling how to pronounce certain words. In fact, Phineas himself had to correct her a few times, but assumed at first that Marissa was just kidding around.

But how could anyone joke around about something like a speech pattern unless they were being insulting? This seemed all too genuine to be fake, yet their first meeting had Marissa speaking in rapid-fire. It confused Phineas; a lot of things about this girl confused him.

"And this...place isn't...so bad," Marissa shrugged, "It's...comfy..."

"Doesn't make it any better than you always sit around here doing nothing," Phineas said, "Why does Candace keep you down here, anyway? Or...does she even know about...?"

"She does...this...uh...to...to...protract me."

"You mean protect."

"...Yes..."

Phineas tilted his head. "It still doesn't make much sense to me," he said, "I mean, there are plenty of people here who live in the upper floors who don't work for the Resistance. Even I live up there. What makes you different?"

"I...don't...know," Marissa said, "I've wanted to...ask...but I...just...can't."

"Why not?"

"...I don't...want to...sound...ungrateful."

Phineas glared. "That shouldn't mean that you spend all your life underground," he said, "You've been done here so long that you don't even know what clouds are."

"I know what...they are," Marissa said, "I just...fail to know what...what they...uh...luck right."

"Look."

"Lick."

" _Look_."

"Lock."

" _Loooook._ "

"Lo..ook...?"

Phineas smiled. "Good," he said, "You're getting the hang of it now...sort of, anyway."

"Talk...talking, you mean? Oh...it's not...much prog...gress...I mistook...those words...be...fore..."

Phineas frowned, feeling that Marissa was talking even slower now. "Hasn't anyone helped you with that?" he asked.

"No...Candace and...Isabella are...too...busy..."

"Well...I'm not."

Marissa blinked at Phineas. "...Really...?" she asked, "I...don't want to...impose..."

"Trust me," Phineas smirked, "I've got so little to do around here, it would improve my attitude around this place if I actually DID stuff."

"But...you seem...to always be...in a good...dude."

"It's mood. And I'm NOT a happy person when I'm constantly bored. Boredom is something I will NOT put."

Marissa gave another one of her small smiles and giggled a little. Phineas returned a grin. "Besides, it'll be easy," he said, "You already know how to read and write. All we gotta do is put that skill into talking."

"Well...if...you...say...so."

"I know so. Now, say that LAST sentence faster."

"Uh...well...if...you..."

"No, no, no, faster."

"...If you...say so."

"Better. Now, a little more."

"...If you...say...so..."

Phineas shook his head. "You gotta have more confidence than that, Marissa," he smiled, and nudged Marissa, "Now c'mon! One more time!"

Marissa looked over to the smaller child, who grinned up at her in a determined fashion. Marissa stared down silently, tugging at her skirt before the smallest of smiles came across her face once again. She took a soft breath and Phineas waited anxiously. "...If you say so."

* * *

Doofenshmirtz spent most of the day slamming his head onto the wall of his bed impatiently, until it would give him a massive headache or until someone would happen to come into the room to stop him. Of course, this was the only way he'd been able to entertain himself since he got injured from the building collapsing, other than his usually spats with Schnitzel, who was the person who'd usually enter the room. But it wasn't Schnitzel this time, though. It was a different doctor of whom he could remember little about.

What was her name again? Dr. Hi...Hiro...no? Hirano! Dr. Hirano!

...What the hell was she doing there?

"How are you feeling, Doofenshmirtz, sir?"

"Where's Alice?"

It was so weird asking that question, and it painted it as if he cared about her well-being. Sure, he was wondering if something had happened to her, but wouldn't they have brought that up immediately to him in the first place? In fact, Dr. Hirano seemed relatively nervous at the very mention of Schnitzel's name. "Uh...well...she's working on another patient," Dr. Hirano said in an even tone, "She told me to check on you immediately."

"Why would she trust ANY of you to check on me?"

"Because of the Norm-Bots, sir."

"Ah, yes...alright. Believable."

Dr. Hirano sighed. Was it of relief? Doofenshmirtz rose an eyebrow. "Alright then," Dr. Hirano smiled, "I'll come and check on you later, then, sir."

"Actually, Miss Hirano," Doofenshmirtz said, "I'd like to have a word with Schnitzel later, if you don't mind."

"...Uh..."

"Oh, who am I kidding? I don't CARE if you mind or not. If Schnitzel is planning SOMETHING then it's best that you TELL me up front."

"...I don't know what you're talking about, sir."

Doofenshmirtz had to admit, they chose a rather upstanding woman to check up on him. Dr. Hirano remained completely and utterly calm in the situation, to the point where Doofenshmirtz almost thought that he was overreacting. But something was clearly wrong here, and he wasn't about to let it slide. He folded his hands calmly.

"Alright," Doofenshmirtz said, "If that's the case, then you are dismissed."

Dr. Hirano turned around. "And Dr. Hirano," Doofenshmirtz interrupted, "Please, if you will, send in someone else for me to interro-err-inter _act_. It's getting boring in here, you see, and I have some questions about the other patients."

Dr. Hirano mentally cussed as she nodded to Doofenshmirtz, soon after leaving the room. Doofenshmirtz hummed to himself in a satisfied tone, knowing well that whatever Schnitzel did, he was going to murder her for. Slowly, painfully, and as grotesque as possible. Doofenshmirtz lied back down in a relaxed position as he waited. Soon, he wasn't going to be bored anymore.

 **A/N:**

 **Star Wars Reference belongs to Star Wars, btw. (I was watching Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars, don't judge me)**

 **And there you have it! :D I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Again, I am NOT accepting any OCs from anyone unless I ask you. Okay? Okay. Just wanna be sure, because I'm sure some of you didn't read the A/N in the last chapter or something and are tempted to ask me to put in one of your own. Well, no. I will NOT fall into that temptation. I won't.**

 **Please, review, follow, favorite, and have a nice pleasant sick-free day. :)**

 **...I have a cold. Sue me. XD**

 **-GTS**


	6. Chapter 6

**Unfortunately, THIS is where everything begins to slow down; though not by much. I've thought too much about this sequel to go on a hiatus.**

 **So, I just started college this last week, and I just got a lead in the show Annie for my Spotlight group (I'm Miss Hannigan; oh, yush) so I'm gonna be working pretty hard on that stuff. Since that's a top priority, I may falter with the updates for this a bit, and I'm sorry if I do. I have a life now, it seems, so I have to tend to that and stuff. XD**

 **As for now, I'm gonna try to still update this once or twice a week.**

 _"Phineas and Ferb"_ **are owned by** _Dan Povenmire_ **and** _Jeff "Swampy" Marsh_ **who both work for** _Disney(c)_ **( _LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!_ )**

 **Marissa Flynn owns Marissa**

 **Porkins belongs to Star Wars (but I love his name, so I keep using him anyway) who also belong to Disney...so HA.**

 **I own this story and the rest of its contents.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **P/F/P/F**

There was a grave silence in the hall outside of the medical room as a line of doctors were filed against the wall, some nervous, others trying to look strong and dignified in spite their current situation. The very thought of being interrogated by Doofenshmirtz one-by-one was terrifying to say the least, but as Dr. Hirano began pacing back and fourth, she knew that it was best to keep Schnitzel's escapade a secret. There was no going back on this, and she'd be damned if she allowed any of those who she worked with in the past slip out anything vital. She knew Doofenshmirtz well enough to know that just a fragment would be enough for him to piece everything together.

Then again, just the sheer lack of Schnitzel's presence was getting Doofenshmirtz suspicious. Hirano wondered whether or not Doofenshmirtz had already figured it all out and was only making sure if his ideas were correct. Then she thought, no; he wouldn't be asking so many questions if that were the case. She didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing...

...No, it was probably a bad thing whether he knew for sure or not.

However, Hirano trusted that the others would hold their tongues. They were trained for this situation among others, anyway. Hirano turned to Dr. Johnson. "You said nothing?" she asked.

"Not a word," Johnson assured, "Don't worry. All of us made a solemn oath."

"Solemn oath my ass," Dr. Porkins growled, "SOMEONE is gonna slip! There's too much tension in the air for someone NOT to!"

Hirano hushed Porkins, glaring. "Shut up," she hissed, "Please? We at least need to keep this a secret as long as we possibly can. We don't know what'll happen if he finds out."

"He'll probably gut us like fish," Porkins gulped, "Or decapitate us and put our heads on staffs!"

"Thank you for the images, Porkins," Hirano sighed, "You've been a reassurance to us all."

"I'm only being HONEST," Porkins said exasperatedly, "YOU were thinking it too!"

"Actually..." Johnson trailed off, and she rubbed her arm nervously as her agreement was made clear.

"Look, can we please just calm down?" Hirano asked with a weak smile, "As long as Doofenshmirtz doesn't know, we'll be fine. Who knows? Maybe he'll brush it all off."

Minutes later, as the other doctors just began taking Hirano's advice, a sudden boom filled them with dread, and shook the entire building. Many clung to each other, or ran to take cover, or flat out passed out on the floor at the sound of Doofenshmirtz's roar. It was so loud, that everyone in town could hear, and many copied the same reactions as those inside DEI. Hirano felt the shattering waves of her hope as she heard the three dreaded words:

 _"SCHNITZEL DID **WHAT?!** "_

Moments later a body was sent flying through the doors of the medical room, landing squarely on Hirano, who stared up. The doctor on top of her looked shaken, even near tears. "I-I'm sorry," he whimpered before anyone could scold him, "I was weak! I WAS WEAK!"

With that, the doctor fled the scene sobbing his eyes out. Hirano sat up, her jaw dropped as Doofenshmirtz suddenly stood in the front door, his eye red with fury. This was short lived, as his strength immediately depleted, though this time he was determined to remain conscious. He used the door frame as support, and looked ahead at the doctors, some of who went to assist Doofenshmirtz only to be shoved away. His gaze went directly to Hirano, who cursed herself for being in line of range.

"You," Doofenshmirtz growled, "Get me my phone...NOW."

* * *

"...and that is why I do NOT wear lederhosen."

Buford gave a rather proud grin as he witnessed those who cared to listen to his story pale a little. Phineas felt himself shuffle awkwardly as he glanced back and forth at the bulky child, and over to Dr. Baljeet, who stared in pure disgust. Irving stared rather blankly, though was probably sharing the same thoughts as Phineas, while Django began snickering at nothing in particular. Phineas supposed that this was going to be his life now, having to deal with Buford's strange stories, along with many other things he'd have to list out.

"Okay," Dr. Baljeet began after a long pause took place, "First of all, none of us asked you about your interesting...encounter, and secondly that was the most disgusting revelation I have EVER heard. Not to mention the most specific; I mean, who even wears lederhosen in this country?"

Dr. Baljeet motioned to the rest of the crowd, who didn't pay attention to their discussion. Phineas leaned on his arm, and looked over to Irving just as the boy rose his hand shyly. Those at the table looked to his direction, with Dr. Baljeet giving a bit of a sour look to him.

"I've worn lederhosen before-"

"NO ONE ASKED YOU, IRVING!"

Irving in response to the reaction given shrunk back as Dr. Baljeet leaned across the table, trying to look intimidating. So far, it only worked for Irving, which was why he seemed to get picked on a lot. Phineas, who sat on the other side between Buford and Dr. Baljeet, genuinely felt bad for him sometimes even though everyone would do this to him. Phineas wasn't one to judge, considering that he was someone who would probably vent on another person anyway in the case that may be.

Django let out a calming sigh as he shook his head, putting his hand on Irving's should comfortingly while turning his gaze toward Dr. Baljeet. "C'mon, bro," he said rather melodiously, "Lay off the poor guy. You're just feeling stressed is all."

Dr. Baljeet rolled his eyes at Django as he seated himself back down. "And YOU have obviously been smoking those disgusting fumes again," he spat, "You would be making your sister proud."

"Not cool, 'Jeet," Django said with a frown, "Not cool."

"It's DR. Baljeet...sigh...and I apologize. That was rude of me...but you must know that I am right."

Apparently, some of the members horded some kind of drug to help other members calm their minds and such. They weren't illegal in the Resistance, of course, since Candace had even suggested that some of the more stress-prone soldiers take the medication. Some, like Django, however, would get dangerously addicted to it upon consuming too much of it. Yet another decision that many had come to question of Candace.

Phineas sighed, not commenting on the subject, but listening carefully to the conversation nonetheless. He hadn't been speaking much to anyone lately, now that he thought about it. So out of character...Phineas thought to himself that perhaps he should be more open with his new...uh...were they his friends? He had only started talking to them recently. Then again, for what they were like, they seemed accepting enough; it was much friendlier treatment than back at DEI, that was for sure.

So why did it feel like that something was missing?

"I think we all get what you're saying though, Dr. Baljeet," Irving said softly, avoiding Dr. Baljeet's gaze and quickly looking towards his other friend, "Django...what you're doing isn't healthy."

"It helps me forget the negative vibes," Django said calmly, almost in a state of meditation, "Relaxation...is the key to art. That's what Jenny tells me."

"Jen's as addicted as YOU are, Artsy Fartsy," Buford mocked, "Maybe even more. Not sure if she's a good resource or not."

"I AM not sure, Buford," Dr. Baljeet corrected.

"Who asked YOU, nerd?" Buford growled, "Look, all I'm sayin' is that you may be lettin' this get to ya'...of course, if you actually SHARED some of this stuff with me-"

"BUFORD!"

Phineas ducked down as Dr. Baljeet leaned over threateningly at Buford, who was annoyed but unfazed. Django by now looked humored, while Irving shrunk down in terror at the reaction. Dr. Baljeet was feisty for someone who had barely any muscle, Phineas gave him that much.

"I assure you, bros," Django smiled, "I am at peace with the world. I've barely had a whiff of the stuff today."

"Tell that to the guy smelling marijuana," Irving mumbled before feeling Django's arm wrap around his neck in a friendly gesture.

"It's NOT marijuana, my friend," Django said, "You're off the keester."

"Then what is it supposed to be?" Dr. Baljeet asked curiously, "Heroin or something?"

Django blinked dumbly before he answered with a simple shrug. "Let me put it like this," he said, "It's like a piece of heaven that never leaves you."

"Heaven's meeting with Hell very soon, my high friend," Buford snickered, earning a look from Dr. Baljeet.

Django appeared unfazed by Buford, and even seemed to laugh at the bully's joke. By now, Phineas had turned his head from the conversation, and laid eyes on none other than Isabella, who appeared to be just leaving with the other FireStorm Girls, all of whom were complaining a bit about something. Phineas could hardly hear their conversation, but by the information Phineas had gathered about her, Isabella was probably starting to overwork them. Of course, this happened quite a bit, and the girls were soon straightened out and back to their hard work outside of the mess hall.

Phineas continued to watch Isabella, something he realized he had started to do ever since he had first seen her. There was no logic to it, really; Phineas just found himself intrigued with Isabella's practices. It wasn't all the time, even, it was more like every time he came across her. Which, he remembered, wasn't all that often...he should talk to her, Phineas thought. Maybe they could become friends, or maybe she would break his spine? Either way, it was rude of him to have yet one conversation with her while he managed to at least try to get to know the people currently at his table.

"Yo? Earth to Dinner Bell?"

Phineas blinked back into reality, almost sighing at the insulting nickname, one of which was given to everyone Buford met and belittled. He looked to the others. "...Huh?" he said, suddenly feeling a bit slow on reacting; he did, however, notice the look of confusion on everyone's faces, and immediately stepped it up, "What? What is it?"

"Well, um, I asked how you were," Irving said quietly, "You've been silent this whole conversation, and...um..."

Irving shrunk down again, and was almost completely ignored afterwards.

"You zoned out," Buford simplified, "We boring you, or somethin'?"

"N-no!" Phineas said, "That's not it at all, I-!"

"Jeez, calm down," Buford snickered, "I was only joshing with you. I haven't even pounded you yet, and you act like I have. You need to relax."

Phineas seem to obey those words, and returned to his small hunch with a sigh. Dr. Baljeet then butted back into the conversation, saying, "Of course, your stress levels are to be desired. It's best to ALWAYS be attentive, no matter what."

"Yeah, yeah, keeping squawking," Buford said, "You just LOVE to hear yourself, don'tcha?"

Dr. Baljeet growled, which Django began to laugh once again, either at nothing or at Dr. Baljeet's reaction to Buford's retort. Phineas seemed to find some reverence to Buford's words, yet it was probably from the uncomfortableness he felt whenever Dr. Baljeet glared at someone. It was never a fearsome look, but it made everyone feel that Dr. Baljeet had some sort of god-complex. Dr. Baljeet soon calmed himself, and politely resided himself, looking to Phineas.

"What is on your mind?" Dr. Baljeet asked, glancing once at Buford, who looked far too innocent for it to be genuine.

"Uh...nothing much, actually," Phineas shrugged, "I gotta be honest, not much has happened since I came here."

Other than finding someone who may or may not be related to him, or be a clone of his sister, or whatever Marissa could be. One way or another, Phineas would figure out that mystery, or be damned. He would triumph, he swore to it that he would! But that wasn't really something that he felt should be discussed to them as of yet. Perhaps later, once he had more tolerance for them?

"Really?" Django asked, "A lot of stuff happens to us."

"That is because we have faced deadly robots," Dr. Baljeet began to list out, "Mutated plants, evil dictators-."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Back up a bit," Phineas cut in, "What was that part about mutated plants and evil dictators? I thought that Doofenshmirtz was the only problem we had?"

"Has it occurred to you that we are out of state yet from Danville yet we are still hidden from the world?"

"Well, I wouldn't say from the world, I mean, not everyone knows about us-"

"You are taking my words too literally."

"I know. Sorry. It's a thing I do to people. Go on."

Dr. Baljeet rose an eyebrow, wondering if Phineas insulted him or not, but decided to brush it off for the moment and went onto explaining. "About seven years ago, right when Doofenshmirtz began his reign," he said, "An organization known as the League Of Villainous Evildoers Maniacally United For Frightening Investments of Naughtiness-"

"Wait," Phineas tilted his head, "They called themselves LOVEMUFFIN?"

"Yes, Phineas, yes they did," Dr. Baljeet said, "Now let me finish. Please?"

"Right, right," Phineas nodded, "My apologies. Continue."

"Anyways," Dr. Baljeet went on, "LOVEMUFFIN soon began taking over Tri-State Areas all over the country, and soon everyone was taken over. As a result, Resistances were placed all over the country, or...at least most of them so far. We haven't made contact with everyone, unfortunately. In any case, this state has also been taken over, by one named Professor Mystery."

"Ah, yes, that riot," Django sighed romantically, "He's a saint compared to Doofenshmirtz...that, or a dense. I can't tell which."

Phineas winced a bit at the mention of his father, realizing that none of them knew that they were related. Or perhaps they did, and they just assumed that Phineas hated Doofenshmirtz just as much. Regardless, Phineas decided to find a way to change the subject. He went with the first thing that popped into his head.

"So, what can you tell me about Isabella?"

Wait, what? THAT was the first thing? What the hell was he thinking?! The mutant plants seemed more proper to discuss than Isabella, now that he thought about it, but his mouth didn't seem to work in his favor. He looked to see Buford suddenly shifting angrily.

"Don't say her name around me," Buford fumed, "Don't even MENTION her presence."

Buford glanced back to see Isabella, who was now watching them carefully. Phineas peered over as well, and seemed to meet eyes with Isabella just for a moment before he automatically turned away, swallowing some saliva as if he were nervous. Which he wasn't. He wasn't nervous at all.

Phineas looked back to Buford in confusion. "All I said was-"

"Seriously, DON'T," Buford said, poking a finger at Phineas' nose, "You think your sister and I have problems, ha! The very mention of _her_ name makes me want to flip tables!"

Phineas looked to Dr. Baljeet for an answer to Buford's sudden rage, which earned a smirk from the young scientist. "It's a question of pride," he explained, "Isabella has beaten Buford in several types of physical and non-physical activities. They are born rivals."

"And Isabella always wins," Irving cheerfully stated before earning a glare from Buford, to which he shrunk back in fear.

"Really?" Phineas asked, "There's no way. I mean, I believe in multi-talents, but there's no possible way that she can beat him at everything...is there?"

Phineas regretted his ending choice words as Buford snarled at him, ready to punch him in the face. Phineas quickly rose up his hands in defense before the bully could do anything to him. "Hey, hey!" he said, "I'm on YOUR side, here! Is it really that humiliating to have-?"

"She won against him in arm wrestling, thumb wrestling, wrestling-wrestling..." Django suddenly started listing, which only rose Buford's rage, much to Phineas, Irving, and even Dr. Baljeet's disgruntlement, "...and let's not forget checkers. Ah, checkers, that might be my favorite word after that moment-"

"DUCK FOR COVER!" Irving shrieked, and immediately Phineas and Dr. Baljeet followed him away from the table, which Buford soon after flipped over with Django on it.

All eyes turned to the scene, and there was a short silence followed by murmuring as Buford began to pant, calming himself down. Phineas looked to see that the table was now on top of Django, who was still chill about the whole thing. That boy was DEFINITELY high, Phineas thought as he and Dr. Baljeet went to help Django back up. Buford looked around the crowd.

"WHAT ARE YOU LOOKIN' AT?!"

All heads turned away, some glancing out of curiosity, but for the most part trying to look away from Buford, who huffed in satisfaction. Phineas looked back to Buford. "Apparently it is," he said slowly.

"What'cha dooin'?"

Phineas flinched at the voice, and looked to see Isabella, standing behind him. Of course, she wasn't talking to him; she was talking to Buford. Of course. THAT made more sense, especially given how pissed off Isabella looked. The said FireStorm leader stepped towards Buford, walking passed Phineas like he didn't exist as he watched her with a dry mouth.

Buford responded with a growl, while Isabella repeated her question, "Seriously, WHAT are you doing? You can't just go around flipping tables, Buford. Violence won't prove you're any more of a man that you are," Isabella turned with a huff, a small smirk on her lips as she began to walk away, "Not that you ARE one."

The FireStorm Girls, who were apparently watching, oo'ed at Isabella's remark, and soon all eyes were turning back to the scene again. Dr. Baljeet began ushering Phineas, Irving, and Django away from Buford, whose anger was starting again. Phineas seemed to focus right at Isabella once again, as she seemed to anticipate Buford starting something. Irving whimpered, earning a glance from the red-haired boy.

"I hate it when Isabella does this," Irving said, "Whenever she gets a chance, she tries to start a fight so she can show off or humiliate someone. When it's BUFORD, though..."

Phineas wasn't sure if Irving was talking to him or to himself, but he decided to take those words into account of the situation. Buford continued to glare Isabella down, as the FireStorm Girl smirked at him, her hands on her hips. "Those are FIGHTING words, girlie!" Buford said, "And I am not one to turn down a brawl!"

Isabella seemed satisfied with his answer, but tried to calm the bully down regardless. "Now, now, Buford," she said, "Let's not do anything hasty. After all," she glanced to those in the room, "There are people present. We don't want anyone getting hurt, now DO we?"

"Oh my goodness," Irving whined, "She's doing it _again_!"

"Hush, will you," Dr. Baljeet hissed, "I want to see how this ends."

"Bros, bros," Django said, trying to get in between the fight before he was pulled back by Irving and Dr. Baljeet, "Make love, not war."

"That's not gonna help, man," Phineas said flatly.

"Oh, NO!" Buford said, "I am NOT going by YOUR terms! We're settling this HERE and NOW! I will NOT be treated like a doormat by YOU any longer!"

"Oh, is that right?"

"Yes," Buford smirked sadistically, "I can bend you like a twig, girlie-girl! You think just because you're a FireStorm Girl means you can beat the awesome power of Buford? You're NOTHING!"

Phineas bit his lip at the sudden change of tone. He glanced around as a crowd began to form, one who felt just as tense as he did. Phineas watched as Buford continued to throw insults at Isabella, who slowly began to frown at him in an unimpressed way. A few insults made her twitch, like they hit a nerve, but once Buford finally stopped, Isabella bowed her head and rose it back up with a silly grin.

Isabella giggled in an uncharacteristically girly way. "Oh, Buford," she said as she tip-toed over to him, "Let me tell you what I'm gonna do."

Once in Buford's range, Isabella proceeded to grab him by the collar, glaring into his eyes challengingly. "I'm gonna break more than your arms and legs," she threatened, "No, no, I will break your pride until it is NOTHING. So; you wanna go verbal or physical, buddy, 'cause I've got you beat either way."

Isabella gave a crafty smirk, one that made her troop giggle in excitement for what was about to happen. "And you wanna know the funny part?" she asked, "There is NOTHING you can do about it."

Buford flinched in fear at first before he gained back his ground. He huffed like a bull, and managed to push Isabella to the floor. He cracked his fists while Isabella stood back off, dusting herself off. "Bring it," he growled, pulling back like he was in an arena before he barreled straight for Isabella.

Isabella reacted swiftly as she dove under Buford's legs and slid back up to her feet, posing the crane as she gave a cocky smirk to the boy. Buford turned around, and leapt straight for Isabella, who jumped over him as if she were playing leapfrog with him. Landing in a crouch, she eyed her troop, or rather she seemed to be. Her eyes seemed to lock with Phineas', but that might've just been him. "Let me show you how it's done," Isabella said lowly as she leapt into action, kicking Buford in the stomach.

Buford fell back, and immediately grabbed Isabella by her leg, slamming her down to the floor. Isabella squeaked in pain, but didn't let it effect her stance as she prepare another front, aiming for Buford's legs, only to be grabbed by her own. Buford threw Isabella up into the air, and prepared to punch her only for Isabella to catch herself on his fist, blocking his punch while in midair.

The crowd stared in awe at the battle before them, including Phineas, as confused as he was. He glanced to Dr. Baljeet. "Does...does this happen usually?" he whispered.

"At least once a week," Dr. Baljeet grinned, "You should've seen LAST WEEK'S fight!"

"I didn't take you for someone who liked this kind of violence," Phineas blinked.

"Anything that humiliates Buford," Dr. Baljeet cackled, "Is a sporting event to me!"

Phineas looked back to the fight, in which Isabella managed to pin Buford down, and started pulling at his leg towards his back. "Say. Uncle!" Isabella ordered.

In spite the pain, Buford turned back to Isabella determinedly. He proceeded to pull his body forward, and lift himself up, flipping him and Isabella over, and slamming her to the ground. Isabella looked pissed off by now as Buford leapt back up to his feet, yelling, "NEVER!"

Isabella ran towards Buford, slamming her fists into the palms of his hands. They kept pushing back and forth at each other, and cheers began to grow all around which served to fire up their egos.

"I-SA-BEL-LA! I-SA-BEL-LA!"

"GO BUFORD! GO BUFORD!"

"Yes, Isabella!" Dr. Baljeet cheered over the crowds with a crazy laugh, "Bring him the pain!"

Buford turned to Dr. Baljeet, pausing the fight as he pointed his finger at him threateningly. "After I cream her," Buford growled, "I'm comin' for YOU!"

Dr. Baljeet immediately shut his mouth, but as soon as Buford continued to beat at Isabella, his cheers went on also. Phineas, not really choosing a side at this point, looked back and forth and then forward as he saw someone moving through the crowd, pushing people out of the way. The fight was immediately stopped by a long Bo, which served to smack the two rivals a part. Isabella and Buford growled at each other, even as Candace stepped in between them, glaring. Before Isabella or Buford could continue the fight, Candace twirled her Bo and knocked them back again.

"That's ENOUGH," Candace snarled, looking back and forth from Buford to Isabella, " _Neither_ of you are proving anything other than your immaturity! Act like adults!"

Candace pointed at Buford. "YOU have been causing enough trouble as is, I don't need more of THIS from you!"

Buford glared at Candace, proceeding to flip her off once his leader's back was turned.

She turned to Isabella. "YOU are second in command! I expect BETTER from you, Isabella!"

Isabella glanced down, glaring hard at the floor, neither ashamed or satisfied.

"Now BOTH OF YOU," Candace yelled, " 30 laps! 'ROUND the field! NOW!"

Buford and Isabella groaned as they seemed to surrender their position completely, earning a nod from Candace. Phineas looked to Dr. Baljeet. "The field? But...we're underground. Is there another room here, or-?"

"She is talking about the cornfield," Dr. Baljeet said, "This is the usual punishment for their fights, whenever she catches them in the act that is," he sighed in disappointment, "It kills the mood."

"What was that?"

Dr. Baljeet flinched in terror as Candace glared over him. "Do I take it that you want to JOIN them?" Candace threatened

"N-no, of course not," Dr. Baljeet chuckled, "They deserve it! Shame on them for what they have done, he-he."

Candace responded with an eye-roll, looking over to Phineas with a bit of a smirk. "You get used to this kind of things quick," Candace said, nudging her brother before walking away, being followed by Buford and Isabella, who were throwing mental daggers at one another.

Phineas smiled a little as his sister went by, before he felt Buford pushing him and the crowd out of his path. Given his current state of mind, Phineas assumed that it wasn't a good idea to say anything about it to the bully, finally understanding his raw power. Isabella walked past also, giving a glance to Phineas. He found himself smiling a bit at her as well, only for Isabella to give a huff as she walked away.

Phineas' eyes followed Isabella, even after she was nowhere to be seen. The crowd by now had broken a part, and everyone returned to what they were doing before, including the FireStorm Girls, who trudged onward to their training room without their leader. Phineas found himself smirking a bit. "...She's...interesting."

"Yes, well," Dr. Baljeet said, unknowingly snapping Phineas back into reality, "That is Isabella for you. She's a firecracker, that one."

"She's cool, bro," Django sighed, "So cool."

"I don't like how she starts fights like that," Irving complained, "Now we're never gonna sleep tonight..."

"Really?" Phineas asked, "How come?"

"Buford NEVER shuts up about it," Dr. Baljeet sighed, "Not until dawn, that is. Let's just say that you're lucky you have your own room, Phineas."

Phineas thought about it for a moment for the meaning dawned on him. He patted Dr. Baljeet on the back. "I am so sorry."

"It is how we live," Dr. Baljeet shrugged, "You get used to it."

"That's something I've been hearing an awful lot lately," Phineas said with a frown, "Is it really that bad here?"

"Let's put it like this, bro," Django said, wrapping an arm around Phineas, "Life may suck, but you deal with it in wonderful ways...sigh...such wonderful ways..."

Django leaned his face onto Phineas', pulling the boy into an awkward but loving hug. Phineas looked over at Dr. Baljeet and Irving, who had no idea how to react in the situation. Django began to nuzzle Phineas, saying, "I love you man. I really do. Have-have I ever told any of you guys that?"

Django looked at Dr. Baljeet and Irving, who backed up a bit as they gave awkward smiles. "I do not recall," Dr. Baljeet chuckled, "But I assure you, actions speak much louder than words...unfortunately..."

Phineas blinked, feeling a familiar sense of irritation. "...Please let me go, Django."

* * *

Miles away in the sky, just past the border of the Tri-State Area, Schnitzel continued her venture towards the Resistance Base. Having obtained the DNA from Phineas from previous events, Schnitzel was able to use the tracking device within the blimp she had so courteously borrowed. She was almost in awe at the sight of the clouds and all forms below her, all considering that she hadn't left the Tri-State Area in over seven years. It all reminded her about the trips she took to Drusselstien and back after all the heartbreak she had gone through with Doofenshmirtz.

"That really was immature of me," Schnitzel muttered as she pushed aside the memory once again, "I should've just been there for him...I wouldn't even accept his calls..."

Schnitzel wondered if any of those calls had to do with his wife tragically passing leaving him with a child to care for by himself, or during somewhere after his daughter's own demise. Ever since she found out what had happened to Charlene, having learned this during the night where Roger was murdered by Doofenshmirtz, she felt like she could've done something for her oldest friend, and after learning about Vanessa the guilt consumed her.

She hadn't seen what had happened to her own eyes, but she herself had entered that room within the Chandelier Space. Schnitzel had suspicions of what the room could possibly be and what that stain on the wall was, but was never able to look further into the subject until Phineas found the room. It was the best moment for her, and to be fair Doofenshmirtz DID nearly kill her that day. It came as a shock that Doofenshmirtz ended up with a child after marrying Charlene. Then again, it was even more shocking that he had more than one child.

Of course...there WAS the likeliness between Doofenshmirtz and Phineas...maybe it was a dead giveaway from the beginning, and Schnitzel was only gushing over it because she didn't want to believe it.

"Wait...why wouldn't I want to believe that?"

Perhaps it was because maybe Phineas, so young and dare she even say innocent, would inevitably turn out like Doofenshmirtz in the end?

"...Well, I've been talking to myself a lot lately," Schnitzel openly stated, "When I get back, I'm gonna have to check the DSM to see if that's some kind of diagnosable mental disorder."

That's when she heard the sound of ringing through the blimp. Schnitzel's eyes widened in horror. "Oh, god," she said feeling a mist of panic, "I'm starting to hear things now! I'm finally going mad from all the chaos that life (and Doofenshmirtz) hath bestowed upon me! WHY IS THIS LIFE SO CRUEL?!"

Schnitzel happened to turn her head to the side, seeing the control panel blinking on and off. She blinked slowly as it continued to ring, slowly piecing together and reminding herself that, indeed, she was staring at a phone. After realizing this, she mentally face-palmed herself before going to answer it. Schnitzel paused mid-grab.

"Wait...why would anyone other than Doofenshmirtz know the number to this blimp?"

She paused once again as her brain wheeled back.

"Oh, god, they DIDN'T!"

 **A/N:**

 **Or alternatively...**

 **Alice Schnitzel:** _Dr. Hirano, you guys had ONE job! ONE JOB, dammit!_

 **Ah, yeah...nothing changes for Schnitzel, poor baby. Nothing at all. But that's what you were hoping for, probably. You were also hoping for another cliffhanger...you weren't? Oh...well ain't that just too bad? XD**

 **Also, sorry about the random fight scene. I feel like I should've added it in. Oh, and should I have mentioned that there's gonna be some Phinabella in this? 'Cause I feel like I should mention that now, for those of you who are into that sort of thing.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed, regardless!**

 **Please, review, follow, favorite, or whatever you like! I appreciate the love and stuff! XD**

 **-GTS**


	7. Chapter 7

**Okay, so, I kept feeling that "The Prisoner" was just…too bland for a title, so I changed it to something that's less common, I guess. ^^;**

 **I hope this doesn't cause too much of a confusion or anything. Just thought I should let you know why I ended up changing the title.**

 _"Phineas and Ferb"_ **are owned by** _Dan Povenmire_ **and** _Jeff "Swampy" Marsh_ **who both work for** _Disney(c)_ **(** _ **LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!**_ **)**

 **Marissa Flynn owns Marissa**

 **Porkins belongs to Star Wars (but I love his name, so I keep using him anyway) who also belong to Disney...so HA.**

 **I own this story and the rest of its contents.**

 **P/F/P/F**

Panic was an understatement at this point. Currently, Schnitzel was trying to piece together how Doofenshmirtz had figured it out so quickly before remembering that he was probably too smart to simply allow her sudden disappearance to slip out of mind. In hindsight, she should've known not to assume that those who knew of her travel wouldn't have fallen under pressure. Why didn't she come up with any alternatives, why-why-WHY?!

The phone continued to ring, and during the time, Schnitzel's thoughts flew.

"Okay, okay, don't panic Alice, don't panic. Just ignore it, and he'll have to stop eventually."

Schnitzel crossed her arms and her legs awkwardly as she tried to look away from the phone. The ringing continued, and she found herself twitching as she tried to plug her ears, humming a tune to herself. A thought suddenly struck her and her eyes widened in terror.

"But if I don't answer, he'll get even angrier...the sooner I answer, the less his rage with be enticed."

Schnitzel reached out to the phone, and that's when the ringing stopped. She gasped. "Oh god, I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die! AAAAAH!" she said, proceeding to leap out of her chair and hid behind it, whimpering, "Oh god, why~?! Why did I decide to do this?! WHY?!"

Schnitzel curled up on the ground, sobbing in a heaping mess. The phone began to ring again, snapping her out of her sorrow. "Oh no, he's still calling," she said, "He's really mad! O-okay, don't-AUGH! Pant-pant, o-okay, you just-just gotta calm down Alice. Calm. Down..."

Taking a deep breath, Schnitzel stood up and walked over to the phone. Finally, she picked it up, and put it to her ear. "Hello, Heinz," she greeted casually, "How's it hanging, bro?"

 _Yeah, he's not gonna buy that, Alice, you dumb piece of crap, you're gonna_ _ **die**_ _!_

With that in mind, Schnitzel almost automatically pulled her head away as she heard an angry spiral of rage sounding from the phone. She accidentally let the device slip from her hand as she shrieked and fell over onto her bottom. Schnitzel crawled for the phone as it began to shudder and vibrate, and she grabbed it, staring at it as Doofenshmirtz continued his angry, incoherent ramble. Fifteen minutes later, the sound went out, and Schnitzel was hesitant as she pressed the phone back up to her ear.

"Uh...l-let's calm down a bit, Heinz," Schnitzel swallowed before scratching her neck, "Now just repeat what you told me...o-oh...you're going to rip out my torso, huh? And scratch out my eyes?"

Schnitzel began to feel sick, and gulped back the bile in her stomach. She let out another sigh, and remained firm. "Well, that's going to be...yes, I get it, you're going to rip out my torso, pluck my eyes out, and make me eat my own stomach...and _what_ with my ass, I couldn't…oh…that's a little excessive, don't you think?"

Schnitzel pulled her ear away from the phone once again as Doofenshmirtz began adding to the list of things he planned to do to her. Schnitzel sighed, and moments later, placed the phone back to her ear. The rambling continued, but by now her ears had adjusted themselves to take the screaming as it was. Schnitzel hugged her knees with her free arm.

"W-well," Schnitzel hesitated, though she suddenly gained some confidence as she spoke, "Riddle me this, _Heinrich Doofenshmirtz_ : how are you gonna do that while I'm out here, huh? Didn't think of _that,_ now did you..."

Schnitzel paled as her confidence left as soon as it entered.

"...What do you mean that you did...I should be afraid of what exactly…hello...Heinz...?"

Schnitzel slipped the phone down to her chest, her skin becoming white. "...He hung up on me..."

She then lied down on the floor, staring up into the ceiling blankly, waiting. Thoughts flew as she wondered what was in store for her now. "What was I thinking…?" Schnitzel asked herself.

This was a terrible idea. She decided there and then that she should turn around and forget the mission entirely before it was too late.

"But Phineas…"

Before she could finish her thoughts, the engine of the airship suddenly exploded, and Schnitzel found herself trying to stay grounded as her means of transport crashed into the earth below. Her screams died out immediately upon impact, just as her head met with the roof above.

* * *

Doofenshmirtz cackled as he hung up the phone. Those in the room stared at him fearfully as the dictator appeared to be losing his mind. He attempted to push himself up off of the bed he was placed back on, only to be pushed by Dr. Hirano, who he glared at darkly. Yet another smirk came across his face.

"May you hand me that remote over there?" Doofenshmirtz asked politely, "The purple one with the red button."

Dr. Hirano hesitated, but after staring at Doofenshmirtz who was beginning to lose patience, she sighed in defeat and did as she was told. She handed the remote that had been lying on a counter within the medical room to Doofenshmirtz, who glanced over to the window as he pressed the only button on the remote. He then placed it on his lap and lied in a relaxed position. Everyone looked confused.

"…Sir?" Dr. Hirano asked, mentally asking herself if she dared, "What did you do, exactly?"

Doofenshmirtz looked to the doctor, almost glad that she asked. "You know that old…perk, I suppose you'd call it, that I used to have with those self-destruct buttons?" he asked, "Or rather, has Schnitzel ever brought up that interesting little fact about me? I'm sure she has at least once or twice."

Dr. Hirano hesitated. "Uh…yes?"

"Well," Doofenshmirtz reclined, "I sort of lied when I said I got over that habit."

Dr. Hirano's eyes widened in horror as Doofenshmirtz continued to smile as patronizingly as he could. "You mean you set the blimp," she said slowly, "The one Schnitzel is on, that is…to explode? Is that what you are telling me?"

"Eeyup."

"And…you're completely cool with this?"

Doofenshmirtz stared at Dr. Hirano flatly. "Hirano, I'll have you know Schnitzel can survive anything," he said sticking out his finger, "whether it's from falling, drowning (she can hold her breath for at least six hours, I mean, c'mon), suffocation, maiming, you name it. An explosion is nothing to be concerned with."

"That includes the fact that it'll crash into who-knows-where?"

"Yes."

"Outside of the Tri-State Area?"

"Of course."

"…I repeat, outside of the Tri-State Area, that she has not ventured out of in…how many years again, sir?"

"…I fail to see where this is going."

"Sir," Dr. Hirano sighed, "Let me reiterate, for I cannot stress this enough. You are allowing the one person who you've trusted to keep us in line, keep all of your major secrets and conspiracies and many other things that you've placed on her shoulders, to fall outside of a safe-zone that she has not been out of since you took over. And you are simply going to let her go off on her own, with the mentality of 'she's survived everything, so it doesn't matter'."

"Which, she has," Doofenshmirtz shrugged, "I really don't see the problem here."

Dr. Hirano, feeling rather flabbergasted at the careless answer she received, slowly face-palmed at the insane amount of sadism coming from her superior. Doofenshmirtz simply hummed to himself as Dr. Hirano went on, "Alright let me put it like this; she can survive anything, sure, but she is a danger to herself and others regardless. She can't hold a waffle iron without setting a bouncy house on fire, much less go out into the world that she's been kept from for so long by herself. Are you willing to unleash the disaster that Schnitzel can create _by accident_?"

There was a short silence that befell Doofenshmirtz as the smile on his face faded as he began to process Dr. Hirano's words. It had then occurred to him that, indeed, he had screwed up royally, and as such must fix what he had done before it came back to bite him. Calmly, he began to sit up. He looked to Hirano, using her as a means to help get himself to his feet, while the doctor tried and failed to stop him. He glowered.

"Take me to the medicine cabinet. _Now_."

Dr. Hirano looked to the other doctors for assistance, but they were far too afraid to go near Doofenshmirtz. She sighed in defeat. "Yes sir."

* * *

Phineas, Dr. Baljeet, Irving, and Django all met their separate ways after the events at the mess hall, with Phineas still hanging around Dr. Baljeet. Irving had left to who-knows-where, though from what Phineas could gather he was probably going over to the Resistance Memorial, which was a room dedicated to fallen soldiers, which were surprisingly not that many. Irving's older brother just wasn't as lucky as most soldiers, but he was by far one of the bravest regardless. Perhaps that's why Irving was afraid of everything nowadays; he'd learned that courage gets you killed eventually.

Django went off with his sister, discussing something about a medicine for a particular illness. A bug seemed to spread throughout the Resistance base, sending some of the members to hospital beds. In spite her addiction, Jenny was still a skilled medic, and did her best to help. She had been teaching Django the same methods, and it was probably the only time Django ever had a straight face as opposed to a drunken one.

Dr. Baljeet, on the other hand, was working on a drill. Phineas had heard that Perry and Applejack used one in order to get back to DEI without being noticed. They ended up leaving the drill behind, however, and it was presumed destroyed. Thus, Dr. Baljeet was forced to build another one.

"I could help," Phineas suggested, deep down wanting to build things again; at least back when Doofenshmirtz hated his guts he was forced to do something that made him feel useful.

Dr. Baljeet waved off the comment. "It would be best if I do this with no complications," he stated, "Though that was, admittedly, a nice gesture."

Phineas squinted, unsure if that was meant to be a compliment or an insult. With that being said, though, he sat and simply kept Dr. Baljeet company as he worked, much to the boy's disappointment. Silence persisted between the two for a while.

"So, you said before that there are other dictators around the country?" Phineas asked curiously.

"Yes," Dr. Baljeet nodded, "Not all the states have been over-taken, thank goodness, but that appears to be the case."

"And…whose Dr. Mysterio?"

"Dr. Mystery," Dr. Baljeet corrected, "He's taken over here. There are more, of course; Dr. Diminutive, Prof. Poofenplotz, Dr. Bloodpudding…over twenty members of LOVEMUFFIN have taken over. And with their armies, that's quite a lot."

Phineas blinked. "If there are so many," he said, "Then…why focus on Doofenshmirtz? Wouldn't it make sense to take down Dr. Mystery first?"

"Doofenshmirtz is a force to be reckoned with," Dr. Baljeet said, "The thing is, no one thinks that he even needs allies. All he needs is his robot army to succeed. He's so powerful, that he might as well have taken over the other states as well."

"How can you tell?"

"Many of our spies have seen Dr. Mystery making deals with Doofenshmirtz over video-phone," Dr. Baljeet explained, "And in other Resistance bases, the same could be said about the other dictators as well; he's even planning to bomb one of the empires for reasons we've yet to understand. It's as if Doofenshmirtz is running the whole thing by himself."

Phineas stared at the machine Dr. Baljeet was working on, and bit his lip as he began to think of something. Would that be strong enough to get back to…wait…what? Did he just think-?!

" _I couldn't do that to Candace,"_ Phineas thought to himself, _"It's wrong. I trust her…man, this is weird."_

"Are you alright?"

Phineas looked back to Dr. Baljeet, who was eyeing him suspiciously. Out of everyone that Phineas had met, Dr. Baljeet seemed to have this strange look to him that made Phineas feel that perhaps the other saw him as a threat of some kind. Perhaps Dr. Baljeet already knew the truth faster than everyone else?

Phineas grinned. "Sorry about that," he said "I was…admiring your work! Yeah, I'm rather impressed that you can build this so quickly." _Even though I can probably build this thing in under fifteen minutes, you bigot, there are so many easier methods than the one you are using…_

Phineas folded his hands onto his knees, hoping that feeding Dr. Baljeet's ego would cause him to be distracted. Unfortunately, Dr. Baljeet appeared to be smarter than that, and he continued to stare at Phineas suspiciously before he turned back to his work. Phineas sighed a bit, not noticing a brief glance from Dr. Baljeet.

"I must ask you, Phineas," Dr. Baljeet said as he worked on the control panel of the drill, "What exactly did you learn from being prisoner of DEI, hm?"

Phineas paled only slightly. "Uh…well...not very much," he lied, "I mean I was just being used as a mechanic to fix all the Norm-Bots while the Robot Factory was being fixed. I wasn't able to interact with Doofenshmirtz very much."

Dr. Baljeet nodded. Yet as Phineas kept watching carefully, he saw that Dr. Baljeet's expression was saying that he didn't believe a word Phineas was saying. In fact, Dr. Baljeet seemed dangerously certain that Phineas wasn't being honest. In spite this, Phineas tried to keep a straight face.

"So…what brought this up, anyway?" Phineas asked, hoping his assumptions were wrong.

Dr. Baljeet seemed to take a break from working on the machine, and brought his focus on Phineas, who was starting to feel a little uncomfortable. "Forgive me if I am being skeptical," Dr. Baljeet said, "But I do not recall anyone asking why we try to take down Doofenshmirtz before everyone else."

"Y-you don't?" Phineas blinked, "That's odd. I mean, it would make sense to ask these things, right?"

"Yes, but everyone knows what Doofenshmirtz is like," Dr. Baljeet stated, "Everyone knows that he is the one who started all of this, and that if we manage to beat him first we may as well have beaten everyone else. It just comes across as…off to me. Again, forgive me if I am wrong, but…"

"You…don't think I work for Doofenshmirtz…do you?"

Dr. Baljeet was taken aback. "The thought never even crossed my mind," he stated reassuringly, "Even if you did work with him, I doubt that Candace wouldn't have been able to guess what was going on. She has a way of telling, especially given that she knows what you're like."

Phineas nodded at this, feeling a little less unnerved. Dr. Baljeet continued, "My worries tread a far different path. I doubt that you would follow Doofenshmirtz's ways. You just don't seem to be that kind of person…however…"

Dr. Baljeet looked away back to his work. "You sounded…concerned," he said, "And that bothered me. It almost sounded like…"

Phineas bit the bottom of his lip as Dr. Baljeet trailed off. Dr. Baljeet shook his head, almost doubting his thoughts as he silently continued his work. Phineas tugged at his collar nervously before he quietly stood up, waiting for Dr. Baljeet to speak more of his thoughts to him. When no response was given, Phineas decided to leave.

"Candace is probably busy, just so you know. It's best that you discuss anything you have on your mind tomorrow."

Phineas looked back to Dr. Baljeet, nodding slowly. "Uh…yeah," he said, "That's…for the best…"

"And Phineas."

"Y-yeah, Dr. Baljeet?"

"If what I am thinking is correct, then it will not be good news to you. And I should let you know that I find ways of figuring things out, Phineas. This is a warning."

Phineas stared at Dr. Baljeet's back for a moment before he left the room, feeling a sort of chill. _"No wonder Irving's afraid of Dr. Baljeet,"_ Phineas thought, rubbing his hands as if he felt cold, _"It's not like Doofenshmirtz…it's different, somehow. Maybe it's…not knowing what he's capable of that scares me. Or maybe he's insane…"_

Phineas chuckled. "Nah," he murmured out loud, "I mean, c'mon, Buford's got him on a leash, so…" _What about when he's_ _ **not**_ _around…?_

Phineas paled again as he continued forward, laughing as if he thought the whole thing was ridiculous. Which it was, of course, it had to be. Dr. Baljeet wouldn't be capable of such a thing. Then again, who was Phineas to underestimate…?

"…I need to talk to Perry," Phineas groaned, rubbing his temples as he seemed to speed up.

He had been getting more and more paranoid, hadn't he? Where the hell did this mindset even come from? It didn't make any sense! Everyone seemed fine to him…so…why was he so afraid?

Phineas headed towards where Perry's room was, or rather where he remembered where his room was at. For when he entered the room, he didn't see his beloved platypus, but rather a pygmy goat who was wearing only a few bandages. Currently, said goat was reclining on a bed, gnawing on the white strips on his leg, which seemed healed enough from whatever had happened.

Applejack's gaze rose to Phineas, looking as if he expected someone else to enter other than him. He looked pleased regardless, and rolled onto her stomach, facing Phineas with a grin. The goat saluted, sticki9ng his tongue out. Phineas looked confused, until Applejack referred to his neck, which bared no collar.

"O-oh," Phineas said, "So…I'm guessing that there's only one collar, and…and Perry has it, right?"

Applejack nodded.

"And, uh…you must be…Apple-Tart?"

Applejack responded with a glare.

"Apple-Pie?"

The glare persisted, and Phineas sweated a little as he gave a nervous smile.

"…Gary?"

Applejack immediately looked insulted and turned away from Phineas, humphing a goat-like humph. Phineas walked into the room, looking around and saw that yes, this was indeed Perry's room. He looked back to Applejack, who was crossing his front legs, shunning him. Phineas frowned.

"Uh…so…do you know where Perry is, uh…" Phineas tried again, "Apple…Dumpling?"

Applejack looked back to Phineas and sighed. He looked around and saw a cup of liquid on a counter beside the bed he was lying on, took it, and drank from it…immediately regretting his decision, he spit the content out on Phineas' face. Phineas was displeased, and Applejack gave an apologetic smile. Phineas then proceeded to wipe his face onto Perry's covers, feeling that his pet owed him one for all the things he did to his bed in the past.

Phineas shuddered at the thought before he sat beside Applejack.

"So, uh…Apple Cider," Phineas guessed before Applejack gestured that he was close, "Apple…Juice…no…Apple..."

Applejack looked as if he gave up, then imitated eating from a bowl with a look of discretion. Phineas grinned. "Applejacks!" he exclaimed, "So, your name is Applejacks?"

Applejack nodded, not able to explain that his name was without an "s". He'd take what he could get. Phineas smiled. "Okay, then, Applejacks," he said, "Are you able to tell me where Perry's at?"

"Right here."

Phineas and Applejack looked to the door to see a rather annoyed looking Perry, looking directly at Applejack. "Didn'nae Jenny tell ye' not to chew on your bandages," he asked, "You're still healing, now, aren'tcha?"

Applejack bleated at Perry. From Phineas' understanding as he looked at the angered expression on Perry's face, it was a very offensive insult. "That's it!" Perry snarled marching over to Applejack and grabbing him by the horns, "It's bath time for you!"

Applejack looked terrified, broke free from Perry's hold, and leapt into Phineas' arms for protection. Perry rolled his eyes as Applejack stuck his tongue out at the platypus. "You're such a baby sometimes," Perry said lowly.

Perry then directed his attention to Phineas with a smile. "Hey, Phineas," he said, "What's up with ye'?"

"Uh…well…I was gonna ask Candace about something," Phineas explained, "But I need to know if she'll be able to handle it…"

"Alright, then, shoot," Perry motioned to Phineas to go on.

Phineas sighed. "Okay…so…it's about Doofenshmirtz-."

"-Okay, let me stop you right there, because you know that Candace ain't gonna listen to ye'," Perry said flatly, "She's already got him high on her black list as it is!"

"It's not about him being our dad or anything like that," Phineas said, "I just…well…I wanna know what she wants to do with him."

Perry blinked. "What do ye' mean?" he asked.

"Well…when this is all over," Phineas continued, "When we…when they…when…Doofenshmirtz is beaten and stuff…what does Candace want to do with him?"

Phineas felt Applejack lying on him like a dog, oddly comfortingly. Perry looked down solemnly as well, and looked back to Phineas with a pinch of concern. "I'm…not sure yet," he said, "She never really said anything about…what comes next…"

"Do you think that…that she's," Phineas swallowed, "Does she wanna kill him?"

Perry and Applejack glanced to each other. "W-well…like I said, I don't know," Perry said, "But…I don't want te' know the answer neither."

"So it's possible?"

" _More like it's the most likely,"_ Applejack muttered out, earning a glare from Perry; Applejack glared back. " _I'm bein' honest. You know that's what she wants. And it's not like the kid can hear me or anything...I wish he could, though. He'd know the answer quicker."_

Perry sighed. "Look, kid," he said, "He's her father and all, but…you gotta know that…well…the thing is…she doesn't care about your father as much as you do."

"Clearly," Phineas admitted, "But, still…I don't wanna have things lead to that."

"They may have to," Perry shrugged sadly, "But they may not."

"That's…that's all you gotta say about this, huh?" Phineas sighed.

"Like I said, kid," Perry continued, "I'm not sure what she wants to do. I could be wrong. You could be too."

"Yeah…yeah…" Phineas looked back to Applejack, who looked rather bored by now, "So…Applejacks, huh?"

"Applejack," Perry corrected, "No 's'."

"Ah," Phineas nodded, "Well, he's…not as annoying as I thought he'd be, to be honest."

Perry laughed. "Just you wait," he said, "He'll drive you crazy like everyone else."

Phineas smirked. "I never said he was," he said earning a shocked look from Applejack, "What can I say? There's a vibe."

Applejack, looking insulted again, leapt off from Phineas' lap and trotted off, limping in the process. Perry sighed. "I better follow him," he said, "Applejack's in no condition to be walking around on his own. He's a target begging to get beaten on."

"I can imagine," Phineas chuckled, "I can imagine…so…would Candace be free by now? 'Cause Dr. Baljeet said that-."

"You can call him Baljeet, kid," Perry said, "He's just very sensitive about that. Too sensitive. But he's still a kid."

Phineas nodded. "Yeah, yeah," he said, "Now about Candace…"

"I've told you before," Perry said smiling, "Her doors are always opened to family."

Phineas smiled back and got off of Perry's bed. "Well, then," he sighed, "I better go tell her then, huh?"

Perry frowned a little. "You…you don't have to," he said, "You may not like the answer."

"I know," Phineas shrugged, "But you know me. I'm curious. It's who I am. I gotta know what's going on with her."

Perry shook his head. "Yeah, I know," he said before going after Applejack, "I'll see ye' around later, Phineas."

Once Perry was gone, Phineas left to go to Candace's room. It might as well be an office, though, given that there wasn't even a bed there. Just a rolled up mat, Phineas remembered. That couldn't be very healthy.

Being siblings brought upon some rights, Phineas thought, and like Perry said he could enter Candace's room whenever he pleased. It wasn't awkward the slightest bit. If he was interrupting anything, he could just leave. But this was too important to simply not bring up.

Phineas made it to Candace's room and smiled at the door. He sighed. "Okay," he said, "You can do this…you have to know…even if you don't want to…"

And with that he opened the door, not even knocking.

"Candace, I-"

And that was when he realized that he had fallen asleep on Perry's bed and was currently having another one of those freaky night-scares. He must have, of course. Because across from him, talking rather casually to his sister, was a familiar jerk of whom Phineas was already quite acquainted with. Someone who couldn't possibly-!

Monogram gave a rather pleasant smile to Phineas.

"Why, hello there, Phineas, how are you doing today?"

 **A/N:**

 **I might as well have called this "Poor Phineas" or "Poor Schnitzel", but this isn't anything new. Me causing them crap, that is. That's not new. XD**

 **Then again, who hasn't caused their characters pain in stories?**

 **Anyways, thank you for reading! Please review, critique, or whatever, and have a pleasant day! I'll update again soon, aaaand g'night.**

 **-GTS**


	8. Chapter 8

**My, updates are coming slower and slower, are they? XD**

 **So, a lot of the stuff that I've been uploading lately are mainly experimental to be honest. I'll do my best to upload content for those stories, though, since they're getting a lot more views than I thought they would, and since I've been planning to do them for a long time. However, to assure that I don't get lazy, I think I'm going to work on more one-shots as well. Nothing in correlation; just one-shots.**

 **Speaking of which, I am also working on a one-shot series specifically for the Christmas Season, and will be, attempting that is, to write them throughout Winter Break (which for me is actually a pretty long time). These are more Christmas Themed one-shots, and vary between longevity and shortness.**

 **But aside from all of that, how are you guys doing? Got any plans for the holiday? Any wishes? :3**

 _"Phineas and Ferb"_ **are owned by** _Dan Povenmire_ **and** _Jeff "Swampy" Marsh_ **who both work for** _Disney(c)_ **(** _ **LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!**_ **)**

 **Marissa Flynn owns Marissa**

 **Porkins belongs to Star Wars (but I love his name, so I keep using him anyway) who also belong to Disney...so HA.**

 **I own this story and the rest of its contents.**

 _ **Enjoy!**_

 **P/F/P/F**

" _Why, hello there, Phineas, how are you doing today?"_

The temporal regulation around Phineas conveyed a momentary cease of being as he stared directly at the disgusting creature before him. The creature that looked human, though the child knew far better, wore green attire with two dull purple M's on his chest, and had white facial hair that matched that of his head. To Candace, who had been in the middle of a conversation with this creature, he seemed like an ordinary person, to which was even more jarring. To Phineas, the creature had suddenly sprouted demon horns, a pair of bat wings, and grew knife-like teeth while his skin shifted to a dark red color.

Alright, so perhaps not the most accurate interpretation, but to Phineas it was pretty close to the real Monogram.

"You-?!" Phineas breathed out, earning a look of concern from Candace.

"Is something the matter, Phineas?" Candace asked, walking over towards Phineas; she got to his level, not caring if there was another figure in the room or not, "You look like you've seen-."

"-Th-that's Monogram," Phineas spoke dumbly, his hands shaking.

Monogram remained poised and unaffected by Phineas' reaction to his presence, even looking a bit amused. He waited as Candace began to explain:

"Yes, that's Major Francis Monogram. He's an ally to us, Phineas. Anything that you experienced with him in his base was an act."

Phineas blinked, feeling paleness setting in as if he were to faint on the spot from all the confusing emotions swirling. "…What?"

"You might want to sit down," Candace said, directing Phineas to a chair, "And I'll explain everything."

Phineas obeyed, still keeping a close eye on Monogram, who appeared professional to the whole thing. The youngest in the room thought very cruel thoughts about the elder, and he seemed to squint a bit at him before Candace brought him back to reality.

"Monogram has been keeping under profile within Danville in one of OWCA's sewage bases, and has been keeping tabs with us ever since. He's been planning an assault for months, far before you became involved with any of this. So, once he found out you were with Doofenshmirtz and his confidant, he knew that it was the perfect time to strike."

Phineas stared, unable to contain his confusion. "But…the Amnesia-Inator…the Mutants…FERB," he babbled, unable to speak coherently as he took what Candace said into mind.

"He used the –inator to erase all of Doofenshmirtz and Schnitzel's memories of the place," Candace stated, "But he knew that it wouldn't be able to work on your mind."

"Huh?"

"It was more or less a prototype. A fully matured mind would've been able to handle its blast, but a child's is still in the developing stages. Therefore, any radiation that the device would've thrown at you would've caused a brain hemorrhage. In other words, if he had used its full power on you, you would've been killed."

Phineas flinched in shock, and shot a look to Monogram, who nodded steadily at him without a word. The boy hunched a bit, wondering to himself in silence. "Was that his plan?" he thought, "Was that what he was going to…was he trying to…?"

"As for the mutants," Candace said in a more solemn tone, "They had all been created through an accident. He and some assistants had previously been working on some kind of experiment having to do with the anthropomorphic parts of the animal agents, and…let's say that it didn't end so well."

"That's…that's…terrible," Phineas managed to speak out softly, once he finally seemed to calm down enough to enunciate properly, "I…why would they-?"

"-It is an experience I deeply regret," Monogram finally said shaking his head, "We had no idea that it would lead to the agents to…"

Monogram stopped himself from going on, and seemed to look away. It looked like…sadness, guilt, all things that Phineas could easily recognize. Either Monogram was a good liar, or these emotions, whether he had been trying to play Candace and the Resistance for fools or not, was completely genuine. It was strange, but it didn't seem like an act.

"What about Ferb?" Phineas asked, "He was attacking us back at DEI. _He's_ the reason why it collapsed!"

The outburst even shocked Phineas. Was he… _blaming_ his own brother for what had happened?! What was wrong with him?! "What _is_ wrong with me?" Phineas muttered to himself, soft enough for no one to hear him.

"Ferb had left the Resistance base to face off Doofenshmirtz on his own," Candace went on, "He…he failed. And Monogram saved his life."

Phineas stared. "He…what?"

 _Monogram saved his life._

Monogram saved his **brother's** life.

Monogram…Monogram…

Phineas wanted to _kill_ Monogram, for reasons he no longer understood as well as he did before.

"He didn't _remember_ me," Phineas added as he lowered his head, "It was like I was a total stranger…"

"Monogram was able to save Ferb's life," Candace said, "But not his mind."

"So, he…Ferb…its memory loss, then," Phineas said in a small voice, once again giving a glance to Monogram, though this one was shorter than the others.

Candace nodded. "In a simple term, yes," she said, "Though it's more complicated than that…I can't go too deep into detail," she nodded to the Major, "You'd have to ask him about it."

Phineas looked back to Monogram once again, and the taller human smiled. It made Phineas shudder uncomfortably. The boy looked back to his sister. "But what about his powers?" he asked, "The flying, the super strength…?"

"Like I said, you'll have to ask Monogram about that," Candace said with a sigh, "He's explained the process to me, and…I'd be lying if the whole idea wasn't confusing."

Phineas looked down to his lap. "So…he's…on _our_ side?" he asked, "He's not gonna come into my room while I sleep and stab me to death?"

Phineas realized then that he had been having the most bizarre nightmares ever since he came to the Resistance. Should he ask someone about that? Was there a psychiatrist in the Resistance Base? Maybe with those who were simply boarding at the base that he had been shown before?

"No, Phineas," Candace almost chuckled as if the whole idea was far from possible, "Trust me. He will not hurt you."

Somehow, Phineas seemed to relax a bit, as if he trusted his sister's words. He looked up to Monogram, with a small smile as Monogram seemed to return the gesture. It still made Phineas shudder, like a snake was crawling on his spine. Something felt off…

"W-well…if you _say_ so," Phineas said, laughing a bit, not knowing if he was nervous or relieved as it sounded like a mix between the two.

Candace simply smiled at her brother, putting a comforting hand on Phineas' shoulder. Yet Phineas felt anything but comfort, as he glanced back at Monogram again, getting a tiny smirk in response. It was faint, even unnoticeable, and Phineas started to think that he was truly going insane by now. But as he kept thinking about the events from before, he realized that something didn't quite add up.

Perhaps he would talk to Monogram about all of this later.

(~)

Everything had been a huge blur to Schnitzel after the blimp had self-destructed. To think, she had only gone just a few hours away from DEI before she had been stabbed in the back by those who she had entrusted. On the same _day_ , no less, Schnitzel would've scowled to herself had she been sentient at the moment. But she wasn't, unfortunately, though to be honest it would've been better than feeling her insides burst open from the fall.

Oh, god, was that the case?! Was…oh god…part of her seemed to panic, even in this world of darkness she mentally found herself in.

Schnitzel was currently prostrate, completely unaware of her surroundings in the land of the living. Mentally, however, she found herself in her own subconscious, viewing her mind like a spectator viewing and commentating over a sports game. She talked about her trials, her mistakes, her misadventures that every child had one way or another found themselves in, as if she was being interviewed. As if she was someone of huge importance.

And she seemed to be answering questions that had been thrown at her as if there had been someone there with her. And a voice seemed to echo; not her own, yet it was. She could not recognize it, yet she felt it was familiar to her.

"Who are you?"

"Why are you here?"

"Who are the people most important in your life?"

"What are your regrets?"

"When will this all change?"

And the questions went on and on, one more thought provoking than the last. By now, though, Schnitzel seemed to doze off, not able to answer any question properly, and then all the voices faded to one that she was SURE she knew well enough. Her mouth felt dry, and her eyes widened.

"Are you _done_ yet?!" yet another question, though this one came from a smaller version of Doofenshmirtz; unlike his older self, though, this one had both of his sky-blue eyes.

The younger Alice Schnitzel muttered something in a closet as the scene took place, and Heinz pressed an ear against the door. He sighed in irritation once again. "You've been in there for hours!" he groaned, "If you wanna show me something important, then _she_ me, already! I have to go in fifteen minutes!"

Then, the doors slammed open, sending Heinz flying into a bed that belonged to his best friend. A younger Alice came out in a frilly blue dress with pink gems around the hems. She grinned boastfully as Heinz stared at her, flabbergasted at the form of attire. "Well," the younger Alice said as she posed, acting as painfully proper as her own mother, "How do I look? Tasteful, am I not?"

Heinz suddenly burst into laughter, hugging his stomach. "You look like a clown!" he stated.

Alice gave a small, playful glare. "Heinrich Doofenshmirtz, that is _no_ way to treat a lady," she huffed, "I demand a full apology at once, you lout."

Once Heinz regained his full composure, he stood up, cleared his throat, and proceeded to bow in a gentlemanly fashion. "Many regrets, my lady," he said, "I must say you look rather winsome this fine evening."

Alice smirked proudly to herself. "That's what I thought," she said with a nod, before Heinz reached for her hand, and placed a kiss on the back of her palm…

The two burst out into full out laughter.

"Okay, wow," Alice giggled, "You are really good at this, man! And I thought you were just a lawn-gnome."

"Hey," Heinz said, "We 'lawn-gnomes' learn proper etiquette too, you know. My family goes to those stupid banquets all the time."

"Just like the one that you'll be going to in my own home?"

"Pretty much…wait…don't tell me that you're going in _that._ "

"And why ever not?" Alice's eyes fluttered mockingly, "You said I looked ravishing in this outfit."

"Well, it's just…" Heinz hummed a bit to himself, "It doesn't look…like…you."

"Well, it's not supposed to," Alice shrugged, "It's not like I'm going to be water ballooning everyone I know at this party…if you can call it that. Ugh. It's gonna be booooriiiiiiing. I'm glad you'll be there to suffer with me."

"Yes, well, at least I won't be looking like I'm some court jester."

"Hey. Let's not insult the jesters out there; they have respect too."

Heinz and Alice burst into laughter once more, while Schnitzel began to work hard on a robot, sweating her head off. Except that she wasn't there, but rather witnessing herself committing this act as the scene shifted from the happy memory to a more recent one. She remembered this before she had even known of Phineas' existence.

The Norm-Bot immediately fell into pieces the moment Schnitzel placed the head onto its body.

"DAMMIT!"

Schnitzel slammed the metallic head onto the ground, letting it bounce up a bit and roll across the floor. It gently tapped the door that Doofenshmirtz chose to enter through, sending it rolling to the other side of the room. This was the Doofenshmirtz that Schnitzel knew all too well, the one who had lost his eye almost two years after they had met as children, and the one who had grown into the cold-hearted shell of what he used to be.

"I can see that little progress is being made," Doofenshmirtz said in an even tone.

"I'm trying," Schnitzel said, almost begged it to herself that it was the case, "It's just…building was never my strong suit, and…"

"It's been a month since the Resistance took down the Robot Factory," Doofenshmirtz stated, "And since then, the rate of damaged machinery has increased. With how busy I've been, I need you to work all the more harder in order to keep our armies and workers intact."

"It's not my fault I'm not meant to be an engineer! Can't you find someone else to fill in the job for me?"

Schnitzel expected Doofenshmirtz to throw her against the pile of metal, and tell her to continue her work. Instead, he hummed to himself, actually taking her words into consideration before doing as she had initially thought he would. She landed on the pile of metals with a loud thud, and she felt cuts and bruises upon impact. Doofenshmirtz's one-eyed glare was uncaring.

"Get back to work, _Alice_."

Schnitzel twitched.

"It's _Schnitzel_ , Doofenshmirtz, sir."

Doofenshmirtz rolled his eye at this, and left the room. Schnitzel groaned.

Wait…that really _was_ her this time…

Her eyes finally opened…

(~)

…only to find herself face to face with the vines of the large, ancient forest that had surrounded the walls of Danville long before Doofenshmirtz had taken over. It had been one of the reasons that Phineas was unable to leave Danville to begin with (though he himself had no inclination of any of this), and had been one of the major factors of Doofenshmirtz's takeover. Schnitzel remembered those horrible science experiments that had gone wrong in some university that had led to their expansion, these things that not even botanists could fully explain.

About fifteen years before Doofenshmirtz's takeover, the USA had been abducted by plant life that had been artificially created during an extreme food shortage. They were plants that could grow on virtually any soil, and would grow into healthy crops regardless. Of course, that's all that Schnitzel knew about it. Doofenshmirtz was actually more versed on the subject, and had even saw many outcomes, usually bad ones, that would possibly come out from such a discovery.

None of those possibilities listed had anything to do with the plants going rogue, coming to life, and spreading throughout the continent like a plague, forcing cities to either create barriers for protection, or flee as their towns turned into ruin. Those things only happened in cartoons, Doofenshmirtz said, in fiction, he went on; it was the most ridiculous thing to ever come to anyone's mind. So why it happened at all, not even he seemed to be able to fathom.

And Schnitzel didn't really care at all at this point how or why these plants had gained mentality to begin with. All she cared about was she now found herself hanging in the air, having been jolted from her slumber at the thorn-covered vines that pricked her. The said plants had begun to wrap around her like she was a mummy waiting to be placed in a casket to be sealed away forever in a dreamless sleep.

My. She was using death metaphors a lot, lately. She had been thinking about that topic so much since they went underground to face off Monogram. It was so like her, yet only now did she seem to realize just how much she thought about the subject.

Very fitting, seeing as she was going to die right then and there. It was strange; she thought that the world would at least be kind enough to let the blimp's explosion instantly kill her. For all she knew, she'd probably spend the rest of her life inside the stomach of a giant Venus flytrap. The vines covered her mouth, and she found it impossible to breath.

Usually, she'd be able to hold her breath for hours, but the thorns pricking her were making her tired, and she found herself welcoming slumber once more. It was right then and there, however, that another image appeared, one that portrayed Doofenshmirtz destroying the plants on full power with shears specifically for gardening. Once Doofenshmirtz cut her free, however, upon feeling him lift her up seconds before she fell unconscious once more from whatever the thorns seemed to produce, she realized that this was not a figment.

(~)

Phineas waited outside of Candace's room as his sister's conversation with Monogram continued. He was instructed to do so, as their discussion was to be kept confidential. As he waited, he began to think about what had been said in that room, and how it fit together. Somehow, it made sense…

Who was he to judge someone who he only met once? In that sense the whole thing seemed completely understandable. It made sense…it…made total sense. Everything Monogram did…

So why was he still afraid?

Monogram soon left Candace's room/office, and was about to leave the facility entirely to return to his own. Phineas could only wonder why they couldn't simply discuss this via video-cam since it seemed like a waste of time to travel through several states just to have a chat. Monogram stopped for a moment, and looked over to Phineas, who gave the weakest of smiles. The Major extended a hand to him.

"How about we let bygone be bygones, huh?" Monogram smiled, "After all, we're allies now."

Phineas stared for a moment before gingerly extending his hand towards Monogram's. He smiled briefly before feeling Mongram grab his wrist tightly and lowering to his level. Monogram continued to smile, but it felt much more patronizing. "All will be revealed in due time," he chuckled pleasantly, "I'm free to answer any question you may have. I'll be here for a while until Carl fills the gas tank of our plane."

"Uh…i-isn't that a little-?"

"-Over the top? Well, you tend to be when you're the leader of an organization, he-he, just look at your _father_."

Phineas struggled before finally pulling his arm away from Monogram, staring at him with a frown. Monogram stood up straight, staring down at the smaller one before him. Phineas suddenly felt very pale. The Major turned to leave.

"Well, come along then."

Phineas felt his eyes widen in shock. "Uh…what?"

Monogram looked at Phineas with an unimpressed glare. "You want answers, don't you?" he asked, "Then I might as well explain."

"I-I can always ask Candace," Phineas assured, wanting to stay as far away from Monogram as possible.

Monogram smirked. "But I know things not even she knows," he stated, "Don't you want to know what you're father's been up to? Hm?"

Phineas hesitated as he looked at Monogram carefully. He was going to say no, and he was going to talk to Candace about everything that had been on his mind. He was going to turn down the offer of someone who knew more than his own sister…

…Phineas began to ask himself why he would be so stupid as to follow the person who wanted his father dead more than anyone else.

 **A/N:**

 **Aw~, Doofenshmirtz saved Schnitzel's life! X3**

… **That's too nice for him. I need him to do something violent next chapter! XD**

 **Alt. Phin:** _More violent than killing a bunch of vicious plants from "Little Shop of Horrors"?_

 **Actually, that came from one of Doofenshmirtz's inators, I think…I forget which episode, though. XP**

 **Alt. Phin:** _And…uh…aren't you forgetting something? O_O_

… **Oh yeah!**

 **I need to be more careful with Schnitzel. I really like using her, and she's become a little popular amongst some of you, but I don't want that spark to end. I don't want her to become a Mary-Sue. O_O;**

 **But, I wanna point something out…this is chapter eight of the story, and it's another Schnitzel-centric chapter with her past being explored. In "** _Like Father, Like Son_ **", her centric chapter that explained why she was there to begin with, at least her first one, was chapter 8…let it be known that I JUST checked right now. I did NOT mean for this to happen, I swear. XD**

 **I guess 8 is her lucky number or something...**

 **Alt. Phin:** _-_-_

… **MOVING ON!**

 **You got any comments? Likes? Dislikes? I'd love to hear 'em all! Please, review, follow, fave, or whatever you want!**

 **Happy holidays to you all!**

 **-GTS**


	9. Chapter 9

**I need to give Marissa more screen-time…**

 **I kinda envisioned her having more time to shine in this whole thing…turns out, locking her up in her room for the entire story has its disadvantages. I gotta put in some twists for her, otherwise her presence will be kinda pointless, I fear…I want her to be a part of this story! (I mean, this is her frigging debut)**

 **So. Any ideas?! 83 I'd LOVE to hear some from you guys!**

 _"Phineas and Ferb"_ **are owned by** _Dan Povenmire_ **and** _Jeff "Swampy" Marsh_ **who both work for** _Disney(c)_ **(** _ **LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!**_ **)**

 **Marissa Flynn owns Marissa**

 **Porkins belongs to Star Wars (but I love his name, so I keep using him anyway) who also belong to Disney...so HA.**

 **I own this story and the rest of its contents.**

 _ **Enjoy!**_

 **P/F/P/F**

Above the base of the Resistance was a large cornfield that spread across the ground. Apparently, this particular city, Seattle perhaps, had been the luckiest of those who had been affected by the plant outbreak, as they had been "overcome" by mere stalks as opposed to vines and trees. They were still surrounded, yet, but the stalk had proven to be completely useless against them, and proved a great food source even now. They also proved to be a decent cover for the base that lied miles below the surface, and served as a way to camouflage even those above ground.

Thus, it's size and cover proved to be rather useful many ways. For example, at that very moment, two members of the Resistance were running around the cornfield, having been there since their scuffle. They were currently arguing and complaining with each other, trying to blame the other for their current agony.

"*pant*-*pant* Well *pant* thanks a lot *pant* Buford! I really shouldn't be surprised that you got us into yet another-!"

"Hey *pant* don't blame me *pant* girlie *pant* you're the one who _started_ it!"

"Well *pant* if you hadn't flipped out in the first place *pant* you wouldn't have been such an easy target…ugh…"

Isabella fell to the ground with a thud, panting heavily. She moaned. "How…many laps…was that?" she asked, feeling dizzy.

Buford came to a stop at this question, putting his hands on his knees, feeling like his chest would burst at any moment. He cast Isabella a glare. "I thought you were keep track," he growled, "Given you're _smarter_ than me!"

Isabella giggled mockingly at Buford. "Oh, right, I forgot," she smirked, anger on her lips, "Silly me. I shouldn't have relied on you for that, huh?"

Buford groaned before heading back towards the direction of the hatch, his legs shaking from the pain. It was a rather large cornfield, far bigger than a football field, and they had been expected to run thirty laps as punishment for their behavior. Buford thought that it was a little harsh, though Isabella took it as an opportunity to train. She was a little too optimistic (and annoying) for his taste.

Isabella felt her eyebrow being raised as Buford began his leave. "Where do you think you're going?"

Buford looked back smugly. "Look, we've been at this for a while," he said, "And I kinda missed lunch thanks to your idiocy-."

Isabella glared hard at Buford's comment. "MY idiocy?! _Excuse me_?!"

"-So how's about we skip the rest of this?" Buford shrugged carelessly, "It's been so long, I bet we did more than thirty laps anyway."

"Well, unlike _you_ , I don't want to get into trouble with Candace," Isabella spat, "If I were you, in fact, I'd get back to those laps." She added under her breath, "Not that you'd ever listen to me anyway…ugh…"

"You're just gonna make us restart anyway," Buford's retort sounded a bit like a groan, "I ain't gonna do no more of it. You can run as many times as ya' like, but I'm gonna get somethin' to eat."

Isabella growled as Buford went on his way, not bothering to listen to her complaints on the matter. In fact, as soon as she was sure that Buford wouldn't be able to hear or see her, Isabella carefully began to follow Buford back to the Resistance base. It was getting late, anyway, and she needed to get back to training with the Fireside Girls. It wasn't because she knew Buford was right, because he wasn't. He was never right.

Isabella felt herself grumbling angrily.

* * *

Phineas stared at the large scale jet plane, which was currently being refueled by the nerd, Carl, and was being refurbished by some of the members of the Resistance, among them being Irving. The shy member of the Resistance quietly waved to Phineas, who waved back before looking back to the large plane, putting a hand on the side of it. He looked back to Monogram, who seemed to take pride at the work that was put into the machine, almost as if he had built it himself. Phineas doubted it, of course, since Monogram appeared to be the kind to steal credit than to do the work himself.

On the other hand…

"So, uh…how long have you known the Resistance, anyway?" Phineas found himself asking, "Including my sister, of course."

"Since the beginning," Monogram stated, "Your sister had snuck into Agent P's abandoned base on accident, and we conversed. You could say that I inspired them to make the Resistance in the first place."

"Inspired _them_?" Phineas blinked, "So Candace wasn't the only one who you managed to speak with."

"Correct. She was merely one of the first."

Phineas nodded at this, crossing his arms. "And this LOVEMUFFIN…who are they?" he almost found himself snickering at the stupid name, "Was my da…was…Doofenshmirtz a part of them?"

"I'm not your sister, Phineas. Call your father whatever you want to call him; I know who he is."

Phineas looked at Monogram, shocked at the reassurance. It almost made him smile. But he didn't. He couldn't. Something was wrong…

"Yes," Monogram answered, "He was. You see, LOVEMUFFIN was an organization of supposed 'villains' who wanted power of their own."

"Supposed?" Phineas found himself tilting his head, "What do you mean? They did bad things…so…doesn't that make them bad people? Doesn't that mean they're villains?"

Monogram shook his head, chuckling as if he heard a pretty decent joke. "People tend to assume that villains are people who proactively try to be evil," he stated, "That they're the ones who try to 'take over the world' or something clichéd like that. While that's the case sometimes, that's the weakest way to playing that kind of role. True villains aren't necessarily evil. They're simply _your enemy_."

Phineas stared, not sure of what to say.

"It was all led by Rodney, an old colleague of Heinz's, I believe," Monogram went on, "LOVEMUFFIN, I mean. He had so much potential…" he trailed off, momentarily, a little disappointed, before chuckling again, "…But he was so full of himself. He thought he could get everything he wanted by simply taking it by force. As if all he needed was a group who agreed with his ideals…"

"…Rodney…"

Monogram looked to Phineas after hearing him, looking shocked. "You know of him, then?" he asked.

"Yeah," Phineas nodded, "Doofenshmirtz murdered him…and then…?"

"He ended up taking over LOVEMUFFIN," Monogram continued nonchalantly, "And their power spread throughout the country after the vegetation invasion as…ugh…Carl likes to call it. You know the story, I presume?"

Phineas nodded again, more hesitantly this time. "Yeah…" a pause, and Phineas gulped, "do you?"

Monogram didn't answer, nor did he seem to give any expression about it. No look of remorse, yet there was no look of mockery either. He was staying completely straight-faced. Phineas thought that, yes, he must've known about it, and simply didn't want to go into detail. Not out of sympathy, but out of pure boredom it seemed.

After a while, however, Monogram gave a smirk to Phineas, who seemed to give a slight recoil to the change. "Would you like to take a look inside?" he suddenly asked.

Phineas gave a weird look to Monogram, who explained further, "I can tell you've got a lot on your mind. Perhaps we can discuss this more in private?"

"I-…"

"Don't think I'm going to do something awful to you," Monogram stated, "Even if I could, I don't want to cut ties with my alliance here as of yet. You're completely safe with me."

Phineas stared at Monogram, who led him into the luxurious plane. _"As of yet…what the heck is that supposed to mean?"_ the boy felt more uneasy, _"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea…no, I know it's not a good idea, but I'm doing it anyway…just like in the graveyard, or in the Chandelier Room…"_

But, it ended up a good thing, right? He wouldn't have met his father if he didn't make that mistake at the graveyard. He wouldn't have seen a different side of Doofenshmirtz if he hadn't gotten into the Chandelier Room…Vanessa's room…those bad choices always ended with Phineas at least learning something. So, perhaps, in a way, this was a good thing?

Somehow, knowing this made Phineas feel a little better. Emphasis on a little, as Monogram was still very intimidating for someone who was in common stance with his sister.

The plane felt more like a very small house only meant to house a couple people. In the front of the plane were the controls, which could be used manually or automatically. Phineas assumed that Monogram took a lot of trips on the plane, at least back then, or he was prepared, since there was also a bed there. A single bed that was probably to suit Monogram…Phineas' thoughts suddenly went to Carl as he kept looking around. There was also a small table with two chairs, all of which were attached to the plane. They looked comfy.

Monogram sat down, and Phineas sat down as well…and suddenly…just like a flash…it suddenly looked like that room…where he first met Doofenshmirtz…

He was going to be interrogated, wasn't he?

Phineas stared blankly at Monogram, as he looked at him in a calming manner. Phineas could feel anything but calm, but he kept the blank stare that he remembered Ferb always giving. Phineas suddenly cringed.

"You seem stressed," Monogram noted, as if he were concerned (Phineas knew better), "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine," Phineas said, harsher than he meant (what do you mean "harsher than he meant"? That was totally as harsh as he meant, dammit!), "I…I'm fine…it's just that everything's been…weird…"

Why the hell was he opening up to this mad-man? Why did he go into the plane? Why did he follow Monogram?

WHY DID HE GO INTO THAT GRAVEYARD?!

"Why would Ferb go against our sister?" Phineas asked, more to himself than Monogram, "It doesn't make any sense to me…"

"They had their share of differences," Monogram stated, "That's all I can really gather from it. It was something…personal…"

"And why did…why does…"

"I know why you came to see Candace."

Phineas rose his head up to Monogram, whose gaze became a little darker, with the same smile on his face regardless.

"You want to know if your father is going to die after everything is resolved."

Phineas felt paler…

"Let me ask you something, Phineas," Monogram said, "What side are you on?"

…and then he blinked. "What?"

"What side do you stand on?" Monogram asked, "What is right, and what is wrong to you?"

Phineas stared. Was that a trick question?

"There are no wrong answers," Monogram said, "But there are no right ones either. That's how the world works, after all."

"I…I…I-I guess," Phineas swallowed again, "That I'm on the good si-."

"Which side is the good side?"

"…H-huh?"

"I'm asking a simple question, Phineas. Which side is the good side?"

Phineas could feel himself starting to melt in his seat. He hadn't really thought about this before. Doofenshmirtz wasn't inherently a good-guy, wasn't he? He was supposed to be the bad guy of the story. So naturally, they were supposed to be enemies.

But he didn't want to be Doofenshmirtz's enemy. In fact, part of him wanted to-.

He couldn't go against his own sister! He couldn't! That was wrong!

Candace was the good guy! He should stand by her, no matter what! Who cared about-?!

Phineas looked down at his hands. They were starting to shake. He looked back to Monogram, who waited for an answer. Phineas opened his mouth and whispered, "I don't know…"

Monogram gave a look of acknowledgement. "You see, _Phineas_ ," he spoke like he had venom for spit, "The answer to your question depends on the side your on: Your father wins, and we all die; me, Carl, the Resistance, your _siblings_ …if we win, however, your father and all of his "friends" are executed for their crimes."

Phineas laughed. It sounded like he was begging, though. "He can change," he said, "I know he can. H-he has it in him, I know he does…he's just like any other person on this planet."

"Yes," Monogram nodded, "I agree with you, Phineas. I agree…tell me, if it was me doing all of this, Phineas, would you have spared _my_ life?"

Phineas felt a knife in the gut.

"He's like any other human being," Monogram reiterated, "And as of such, he must pay the consequences like any dictator would. Adolf, Stalin…they were all killed in the end, stripped of their titles. They could've changed, too, but they didn't. And that's what it all comes down to; not that they can change, but if they will."

Then, Monogram asked a question in a slightly more upbeat mood. "Would you like to know how your father and I first met?" he asked.

Phineas stared, opened his mouth to reply, and said absolutely nothing. His tongue was dry, irritatingly so. Monogram instantly took this as a yes. "I'm actually much older than I look," he said, "Old enough to have been your father's professor in college. He was a bright young man; smarter than any student I had."

"He knew more than anyone else, it seemed," Monogram went on, "Such knowledge…such talent, gone to waste. You see, I am no better than Doofenshmirtz is…you know that, though, don't you?"

"I knew it," Phineas mouthed, but didn't have the courage to speak it out, "I knew it…"

"But back then, he was genuinely a good man," Monogram said, "He didn't agree with my ways of thinking. He didn't agree with much of anyone, to be honest. His mind was solitary, and completely sure of himself. He didn't have many friends, other than perhaps a few, like Rodney, Alice…Charlene…"

Phineas felt his eyes widen at that name. Monogram grinned. "You know of her as well, yes?" he asked, "She was a lovely young lady…and Vanessa was a lovely little girl…it's such a shame, though…"

"You act as if it was a minor inconvenience," Phineas hissed out, "Like a trip to the candy store that ends with you at the dentist…like it didn't make that much of an impact."

"It didn't," Monogram stated, "Not to me. But it did do things to Heinz. So much so that he even came to me for comfort. I was one of the only ones who knew the truth."

Phineas stared. "The truth about what…?"

"That he didn't do it."

"They…they thought he-?!"

"Yes. They thought he had murdered his own daughter."

Phineas looked utterly horrified. "Why?! Why would they think that?! He loved her!"

Phineas looked desperate, as if to think that Doofenshmirtz killing Vanessa was a possibility.

"He had already murdered Rodney," Monogram said with a shrug (a _**shrug!**_ ), "Who's to say that he didn't kill his own daughter in his own madness? Hm? Aside from that, there was plenty of evidence against him."

Phineas looked like he was going to cry. "Did they even ask him what happened?" he asked softly, "Did they even…did…"

"As far as I know," Monogram said, "No. They didn't. He couldn't tell them anything; he simply kept on babbling like an idiot as far as I know. It's only natural of him to, though. Back then, he wouldn't have even considered the idea."

"That's not fair," Phineas murmured, "That's not fair at all…why…?"

Monogram looked to Phineas curiously. "Hm?"

"Why did you believe him?" Phineas asked, "If there was so much evidence against him, why did you believe him?"

"That's why I'm not better than him, Phineas."

Phineas stared. "…What?"

"Rodney was my student as well, you see," Monogram explained, "And he would sometimes consult with me many times, even once right before his death. He wanted to know how he could make Doofenshmirtz see things his way. To see things our way."

"See things…your…what?" Phineas became more scared than before, "You…you were…one of them…"

"No," Monogram said, "I wasn't…but, we were friends."

"Wh-wha-?"

"Like I said, they were simply made-up villains," Monogram shrugged once more, "They meant to gain power, sure, but they would never be able to accomplish it. The only one who could was Doofenshmirtz. OWCA needed a reason to exist, Phineas, to keep it funded in case of a real emergency, one that would cause human casualty. LOVEMUFFIN needed a way to prove that they were an actual threat."

"Of course," Monogram went on, "They had no idea that they were the reasons why I was able to keep my line of power…even Rodney, as smart as he was, wasn't able to realize this…I was afraid, of course, of Doofenshmirtz, however."

"You…were afraid?" Phineas asked, "Wh-why?"

"Like I said, only he could take over," Monogram said, "He was probably the most capable, and he wasn't even _trying_ at the time. He came the _closest_ when he tried to bring the planet further away from _the sun, nearly putting us in another ice age._ And it was an _accident_. He didn't _mean_ to nearly cause us all to freeze to death. He could have used that as leverage, _but he didn't._ He was literally the only person who could be able to reverse it, and that's what he ended up doing."

"And that's why I was afraid of him," Monogram continued, "Because what if they could persuade him? What if he actually tried to take over? Heh…we know the answer now, don't we?"

Monogram started to cackle, like he had heard a much more hilarious joke, and Phineas started to stand. Monogram instantly reached out, and forced Phineas back by grabbing his arm, much tighter than the last time. Monogram gave a harsh glare. "Let me finish," he growled, "Trust me, you want to hear the end of this."

Phineas sat back down, whimpering. "N-no," he said, "I don't. I-I really don't."

"Oh, but you do," Monogram grinned once more, this time in a much more cruel way than he did before, "Because it'll give you a good reason to hate me."

Phineas stared, waiting for a moment for him to just dash out of the plane so that he could find Perry. Candace. Hell, even Dr. Baljeet. ANYONE but Monogram!

"And that's what you need," Monogram giggled, "A reason to hate me. I can see it in your eyes; you want know there's something wrong here. Something wrong with me…he-he…you're a good judge of character."

Phineas didn't say anything to the compliment. He simply kept on eyeing his one way of escape carefully as to not be caught. Monogram continued:

"And so, Rodney asked me for advice as to how Doofenshmirtz could help in LOVEMUFFIN; so that they could finally take over the Tri-State Area. I thought about it very hard…and came up with the simplest solution. I told him: 'Take away the one thing that means the most to him.' And he knew what I meant."

Suddenly, exiting was the last thing on his mind.

"Wh-what?!" Phineas stared in shock, feeling glued to his seat.

"I am to blame for all of this," Monogram stated, with no remorse, nor with any pride, "Because that had been my plan from _the start_."

" _Because it all started with him."_

And then, that moment in the cell suddenly made sense…

Phineas saw red, and he automatically threw himself at Monogram, who pinned him to the table. There was a mad smile on the Major's face. "You did it!" Phineas screamed, "You staged it all! That's how you knew! That's why he hates you!"

"Ah, yes," Monogram sighed, "He had the same reaction, your father. However, he was much stronger than you are now…honestly, though, I didn't think it would spark all of this. I thought that Doofenshmirtz would've stayed away from everyone after that…it was foolish of me to tell him of my involvement, but he seemed so desperate to know the answer. He always hated not knowing something."

"And you thought that would _help him?!_ "

"I never said I was trying to help him to begin with."

Phineas glared even harder at Monogram. "Then what were you trying to accomplish?!" he asked, "You didn't end up preventing him from seizing power, you ended up inspiring him!"

"I was trying to have Doofenshmirtz gain even less faith in LOVEMUFFIN," Monogram stated, "So that he would never go back to them. I didn't think he was actually going to kill someone, nor did I think any of this would happen…though now, it actually makes sense."

Phineas seemed to relax a little as he continued to stare directly at Monogram, fear returning as much as the boy tried to fight it. "…You're the monster…" he breathed out.

Monogram's smirk deepened. "Monsters aren't real," he said, "I'm simply the villain of your story; much like your father is the villain of mine…but _we_ don't have to be enemies, Phineas."

Monogram released Phineas, who managed to get off the table and start to back away. "It simply depends on what choice you make," Monogram explained, "The thing about you, Phineas, is that you're too naïve. Believing that there's 'good in everyone' will only get you so far."

"That won't stop me from believing that," Phineas said, surprised it didn't come out as weak as he thought it would, "People can change…people can make the right choices."

"The opposite is just as true," Monogram said, "Even more so, in fact."

Phineas chuckled. "What a negative outlook on life," he said, "After everything you've said, you just stopped making sense…"

"Have I? Or do you not want to believe the things I've told you."

Monogram said it more like an answer than a question. Phineas' mouth twitched. "You're…crazy," he hissed, trying to glare but not quite getting it right.

Monogram smirked once more. "That may be true," he said, "But at least I know what I'm up against. You don't even know who you're going to end up murdering."

"What?!"

"You think that it'll be simple as to getting both sides to get along suddenly?" Monogram asked, "Life doesn't work that way. Whether you like it or not, people will die during all of this, and your father will either lose or win the fight. Just as your sister will, or even your brother."

Phineas stared down at his feet, wanting to say that Monogram was wrong, but knowing that he'd be lying.

"Whoever you go against is going to be the person you must destroy," Monogram went on, "In order to remain alive yourself, that's what you're going to end up having to do. Even your sister knows this. She knows this so well, that she's willing to kill her own father in cold blood. She was even willing to betray her own brother…"

Monogram leaned down to Phineas, almost getting at his level. He seethed, completely disgusted with Phineas' existence. Phineas returned the feelings, feeling horrified at Monogram himself.

"What makes you so special?"

* * *

Monogram left a few hours later.

The rest of the day, Phineas avoided any contact with anyone, and even isolated himself in his room. Perry tried to see what the matter was, but was unable to get to him. Candace tried afterwards, but again, was unable to get a response. They ended up leaving him alone until nighttime, when Phineas would go down to visit Marissa.

Their visits had become frequent, and usually happened every night. Phineas tried to go visit her more than that, though, wanting nothing more than to make sure that Marissa knew all that she could; outside from making this nightmare end, that is. Of course, it proved to be difficult during the day, seeing as there was literally no way of him to get to his friend without being spotted. Phineas could feel himself shaking as he walked down the hallway, still thinking about what Monogram had said to him. He hugged himself tightly, even as he made it to Marissa's door.

He'd be going against her too, wouldn't he?

Or he'd still be on her side and…

Phineas knocked on the door, trying to remain collected. Marissa answered, and smiled brightly at her friend. "Hello, Phineas," she said, ever so optimistically; she had improved greatly in her speaking skills, and was quite proud of herself even though she still spoke a little slower than most people, "How are you doing?"

Phineas stared at that smile silently, and wasn't able to stop the tears. He feel to his knees, and started to sob hard on the ground, letting out emotions he didn't know he was trying to conceal. Marissa looked shocked, and reached down for her friend, almost hold him. She looked scared.

"Phineas?!"

The boy shook in Marissa's arms, and the older girl didn't quite know what to do, nor did she quite understand what had brought about this. In spite this, she was able to bring the smaller boy inside, and shut the door behind her with her foot.

 **A/N:**

… **I went a little too far with Monogram, didn't I? ^^; (Also, poor Phineas, man, I made him cry! T_T)**

 **I literally cringed the entire time I wrote for him; I think I might've gone a little too far. Perhaps this is what Doofenshmirtz should've been, I think. I dunno, maybe I'm just a wimp, and he's actually not as bad as I think he is. XD But still, man, this is kinda weird, how I'm writing him…**

… **And Marissa got some time to shine (you know; like I wanted her to? in the beginning of the chapter?)! Yay! For like, a few seconds, but, let's hope she gets more room here (in the next chapter; yeah, I'm letting Doof and Schnitzel's story hang tight for a bit; we need more Marissa, Perry, AJ, and Ferb). ^^;**

 **I hope you all enjoyed, and have a pleasant time of day! Please review, fave, and/or follow!**

 **-GTS**


	10. Chapter 10

**Nothing much to say here, other than enjoy! :3**

 **I should also let everyone here know that I have a job now; that sadly means that I'm not gonna be writing as much as I have been. I'll do my best with updates, though. :D**

 _"Phineas and Ferb"_ __ **are owned by** _Dan Povenmire_ __ **and** _Jeff "Swampy" Marsh_ __ **who both work for** _Disney(c)_ __ **(** _ **LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!**_ **)**

 **Marissa Flynn owns Marissa**

 **P/F/P/F**

Phineas was currently sitting at the foot of Marissa's bed, trying to make sense of his emotional breakdown. He had, by now, calmed himself, rubbing his eyes off from the tears. Part of himself scolded how weak he was being, though the other half was just thankful at how understanding Marissa seemed to be. Marissa, speaking of which, watched Phineas patiently.

"Are you feeling better now?" she asked, tilting her head a little.

Phineas sniffled as he wiped his nose with his arm. He looked over to Marissa with a weak smile. "Y-yeah, I think so…" his breath came out shakily, "I'm sorry about that, I…I just…ugh…"

Phineas gritted his teeth and proceeded face-palm (as well as he could with the size and shape of his head anyway), groaning in frustration. He felt Marissa placing a hand on his shoulder, and opened his eyes to her friendly smile. It made Phineas feel a little better somehow.

"Hey, it's fine," Marissa smiled with a slight shrug, "I cry myself to sleep all the time, dude, it's-."

There was a short silence before Marissa pulled her hand away and cleared her throat. "You did NOT need to know that," she stated sheepishly, "Like, at all."

"Yeah, but…I don't usually _do_ that," Phineas muttered, "I mean…I've been emotional lately, but I don't know… _why_ exactly…"

Marissa sat next to Phineas and rubbed his back soothingly. "Well…you don't have to hide those feelings from me," she said, "What's bothering you, huh? C'mon, spill."

Phineas looked at Marissa as the teenager began to nudge him. "I…I shouldn't bother you with that," he decided, "I need to handle this on my own."

Marissa wouldn't be able to understand anyway, Phineas realized to himself. How would she be able to? Yet, she seemed so adamant. She probably wanted to understand whether she did or not.

"C'mon! It's the least I can do with you, oh…I dunno…" she began shaking the boy playfully, making him smile a little in the process, "HELPING ME LEARN HOW TO TALK FOR STARTERS!"

"Be quiet, dummy!" Phineas laughed, shoving Marissa, "Someone might hear you!"

"Phineas, this area is _completely_ sound-proof," Marissa waved her hand reassuringly, "Unless someone comes down those stairs outside, they won't hear a thing, brother."

Phineas didn't know why he flinched at the word 'brother', but he was grateful that Marissa failed to notice. Marissa instead nudged him once again, smirking. "C'mon," she insisted, "You've gotta let it out somehow! Tell me what's wrong, and maybe it'll cheer you up."

"…Well…you make a fair argument," Phineas murmured before gaining more confidence, "O-okay. Maybe you're right, then."

Marissa immediately jumped off of the bed, sat on the floor in front of Phineas, and went into a listening position. Phineas nearly started breaking into fits of laughter, but managed to control himself, clearing his throat. He opened his mouth, and then shut it as he suddenly began realizing the complications of the situation. He couldn't just _tell_ her everything right now. But he could lie to her either, could he?

Marissa stared at Phineas forbearingly.

"I miss…" Phineas trailed off a little, "I miss my dad."

Marissa frowned almost immediately. "You do?" she asked, "But, isn't he in the shelter with all the other families?"

Phineas cringed at this before Marissa gasped in horror. Before Phineas could stop her, Marissa covered her mouth and looked at him sadly. "Oh my god…" she said, "Is…is your father…dead?"

Phineas stared as Marissa pulled him into one of the tightest hugs he'd ever been in. "Oh, Phineas, I'm so sorry!" she said, "That's terrible!"

The boy stared at her, gently pushing her off of him. "Wha-no, no, no," Phineas shook his head, "That's totally not the case. He's not _dead_ he's…just not here…"

Phineas looked down over to Marissa's covers, all of which were velvet pink. Marissa stared up at the shorter child, putting a hand on his knee to grab his attention. "What do you mean?" she pried, "Is…is he being held prisoner?"

"…No," Phineas murmured, "But I kinda wish he was…that's not really possible…"

"Then what is it?" Marissa asked, "I know this is a little touchy, but-."

"No, it's…its fine," Phineas sighed, "You see, he's…he's done a lot of bad things. Things that I don't think the Resistance, or anyone for that matter, will be able to forgive."

Marissa smiled a little too confidently. "That's just ridiculous," she said, "I'm sure if you explained to them what a great guy he is and that he's changed-."

"-That's just it, Marissa," Phineas cut her off, feeling some vexation coming on, "He _hasn't_ changed! For all I know, he's probably gonna-…" _Try to take down the Resistance to try to get me back…_

"He's probably gonna what?" Marissa asked with a deep frown.

Phineas looked away. "He's…probably gonna hurt a lot of people," he admitted, "I spent all this time looking for him, and…he's not who I thought he was…he's a great guy. He's funny, even though his jokes are terrible. He's smart, in a sort of devious way. He could kill an army…"

Marissa blinked. "He…kinda sounds like a sadist," she said before she could take her words back, "No offense."

"Its fine," Phineas sighed again, "He is a sadist…but…he cared about me. And I care about him."

"You…care about someone like that?" Marissa asked quietly, "That's a little much, don't you think? I mean he's obviously dangerous if he's like what you described."

"I know it's crazy," Phineas said, "But…let me put it like this. How long has Doofenshmirtz-."

"-What does Doofenshmirtz have to do with your dad?"

Phineas froze a bit. "Uh…it's…gotta do with the timing," he smiled shiftily, "Y-you know, since…he kinda…"

"Works for him, I guess?"

"Y-yeah! That! He-he…"

Marissa raised an eyebrow in suspicion but allowed Phineas to continue. "So, how long has Doofenshmirtz taken over?" he asked again.

"About seven years," Marissa stated bitterly, suddenly feeling a tad sour, "All those years, _wasted_ in here…"

"Well…what do you think he, as if my dad, was like before then?" Phineas asked, "He wasn't, uh, _helping Doofenshmirtz_ with taking over the Tri-State Area then, right?"

Marissa looked back to Phineas again. "…So," she bobbed her head a little, "You're saying that he was once a good person?"

Phineas nodded. "Yeah, exactly," he said, "Not… _exactly_ a good person, but…he definitely wasn't a dictator-"

Marissa stared at Phineas with widened eyes.

"-'s assistant or anything like that!" Phineas continued, holding back a nervous chuckle, "He was…he was my friend."

"…I suppose," Marissa smiled lightly, "I suppose I understand how you feel, then."

Phineas frowned a little. "Really?" he asked, "How?"

"I miss my father," Marissa sighed, "Candace told me he did awful things…that he… _died_ along with my brother…"

Phineas looked taken aback at these words, and he felt his heart squeeze a bit. "…You had a brother?" he asked.

"Yes," Marissa said, "A younger brother…" she laughed mirthlessly, "It's funny…my only fond memories of being out of this room were holding my infant brother…but ever since the accident, I…"

Marissa had turned her head away silently, neither scared nor saddened, nor really could any emotion be seen on her face. She looked like she was thinking very hard about something. She deeply frowned. Phineas found himself even more curious than before, and he leaned a bit forward.

"Accident?" Phineas voiced, gaining the attention of the other immediately.

Marissa looked to Phineas with a serious look on her face; one that didn't fit someone like her, one that was almost too much like Candace's look nowadays. "It happened during the invasion," she explained, "We were at the park when it happened, Candace and I…I don't think we were supposed to be there, though. She wanted to show me something before _it_ happened. I still remember swarms of Norm-Bots flying through the skies, grabbing anyone who tried to stop them."

Phineas watched Marissa'a vacant expression turn into a more trauma-filled stare. "Marissa," the boy began to gently reassure, "You don't have to continue if this bothers you…"

The girl's eyes became void of light as she began to remember completely of the events, not being able to cease the horrible memories that haunted her dreams. Yet there was still a smile on her face, one that was creeping Phineas out. "Then they started bombing the area around us," Marissa continued as if she didn't hear a thing Phineas had told her, "So many bodies…so much blood…I remember every detail, every part of it."

"M-Marissa," Phineas said, grabbing one of Marissa's arms, "You don't have to go on if-."

"Then a bomb hit me."

Phineas looked terrified as Marissa looked down to her hands. "It hit me _right on the back of my head,_ " she went on, "I should've died…I should've been killed instantly, blown into bloody pieces…but then I woke up, in a hospital bed I guess. Candace was standing over me, telling me what had happened. The bomb had been a dud…all it did was jumble up my brain."

Marissa laughed a little more as she shook her head. "All it did was jumble up my brain," she repeated with a scoff, standing to her feet as some kind of anger filled her, "It made me unable to move for **weeks!** I didn't even understand a thing _my own sister_ said until about a month later when I was healed. It was a miracle that they managed to help me through that…it was a miracle that I can move around and other things…but…I can never remember the face of my own family; my mom, my dad, and my little brother…my poor little brother."

Phineas stared at his friend sadly, feeling his heart ache. "Marissa…"

"He died during the explosions, you know?" Marissa said, completely losing herself to this, not noticing Phineas flinching at her words, "Back at our house, he, mom, dad…they all died. They were murdered. Candace saved my life…part of me thinks that she knew this would all happen and that she knew that I was the only one she could save…she said that we were lucky…that _I_ was lucky…"

Phineas moved towards her. "Marissa."

With no more control, Marissa turned to Phineas, rage filling her now tear filled eyes. Phineas felt a familiar kind of fear looking into Marissa's green eyes only they were filled with sorrow instead of pure rage.

"He was only a toddler, Phineas! He was so small, so young and full of life, why would they take him and _not me?!_ "

"MARISSA, STOP!"

The teenager snapped back into reality, realizing that Phineas had gotten up as well and started to grab onto her wrists, looking up at her with a frightened expression on his face. But not of fear of her; his eyes were filled with concern. "Marissa…please," Phineas said, cupping Marissa's hands, "…Please, stop…"

Marissa stared at Phineas, then back to the carpet, which she saw her tears gently fall to. "Why…why not…me?" she asked herself more than to Phineas, "I can't even…why take away such an innocent child…?"

Phineas stared at Marissa, his look of fear turning into a thoughtful stare. He knew for sure now that…Marissa…she had to be…Phineas shook his head. He would've been too young to remember for sure.

"Marissa," Phineas stared up at the girl before hugging her, "I'm so sorry…"

Marissa hugged the boy back, shaking. "I-I'm sorry, I'm making this all about-," her voice cracked, "Oh, god, I'm so selfish right now! I'm sorry, I-!"

"Don't apologize," Phineas said, smiling a little, "You let me open up to you…it's only fair…"

"I'm supposed to be comforting you, though," Marissa glared, "I'm not supposed to be the one upset, _you are_!"

Phineas' weight made Marissa drop to her knees somehow, and she felt the boy leaning on her stomach. "It's okay," he said reassuringly, "We can be upset together," Phineas nuzzled her as Marissa continued to cry, "It'll be less lonely that way…"

Phineas allowed Marissa to continue to sob onto him, and he fell into silence. He remembered when he went into the Chandelier Room. He remembered that picture. He remembered comforting his father similarly to how he was comforting Marissa now…like father like daughter, he guessed…

Phineas felt his eyes widen.

 **(~)**

" _So, how'd it go today?_ "

" _Applejack, please, shut up, I'm trying to sleep…_ "

" _You know, with the kid and all?_ "

" _Applejaaaaack…_ "

" _I'm…guessing it didn't end so well?_ "

" _Applejack._ "

Perry sat up on his human-sized bed, and looked over to the dog-bed that Applejack was laying on with a content look on his face. The platypus looked tired and annoyed. " _It's been a long day,_ " Perry said, " _So will you please do me a favor and keep it down?_ "

" _But I'm bored,_ " Applejack said with a sigh, " _Sleep is against my beliefs._ "

" _I hate your 'beliefs'…_ "

" _You hate me in general._ "

" _What do you want…?_ "

" _I was just asking how today went for you and your owner. Jeez._ "

" _Why do you even care?_ "

Applejack rolled over onto his back, smiling up at Perry. " _No real reason,_ " he stated, " _I'm just curious. That kid's been in his room all day since Monogram left._ "

Perry felt an eyebrow rise up. " _That's rather specific of you to say,_ " he said.

" _Well, it's true, isn't it?_ " Applejack asked, " _It just so happens that Phineas is in a mental breakdown about the guy-._ "

" _-No one said anything about Monogram being the reason,_ " Perry said, very quick to defend his superior; it felt weird that his "fellow agent" appeared to be patronizing about the Major, even if it was in character.

" _Yes,_ " Applejack said, " _But Candace_ _ **did**_ _say that she, Monogram, and Phineas all had a conversation, didn't she? Maybe something happened?_ "

" _You almost sound like you're concerned,_ " Perry said flatly.

Applejack pursed his lips. " _Of course I'm worried,_ " he said, " _I told you, things were different at OWCA once you left._ "

" _Yeah, well, you still haven't told me everything about that anyway,_ " Perry sighed, " _So really, I don't think it's as bad as you want me to think it is._ "

" _There are certain things you shouldn't know about, Perry,_ " Applejack warned, " _You won't like the answer._ "

Perry turned away, laying his head against his pillow. " _Then it's not my problem,_ " he said, " _I know Monogram; he's a great man. He wouldn't hurt anyone on purpose…_ "

" _You're still thinking about the mutants, huh?_ " Applejack's inorganic ear twitched a little, making a small squeaking sound.

" _It had to have been an accident,_ " Perry stated, " _Or perhaps someone else did it. That has to be what happened._ "

"… _Let me ask you something Perry,_ " Applejack sighed, " _Why do you think Monogram hasn't even requested to see you at all? You only know that Monogram was here because I told you he was._ "

" _So, he's busy._ "

" _Too busy to see his number one agent? You don't find that to be a little strange?_ "

Perry groaned. " _Enough, please,_ " he said, " _I don't have time for this…_ "

" _Seriously,_ " Applejack said, " _Why didn't Candace tell you, huh? Obviously Monogram made sure that he_ _ **wouldn't**_ _be able to talk to you. Why do you think that is?_ "

Perry turned to Applejack, giving a glare that made the cybernetic goat clamp his mouth shut. Now that Applejack thought about it, Perry did have this intimidating glower that he had failed to notice in the past. Did that make him dense, or indifferent to such things? Either way, there seemed to be an effect right at that moment.

" _Look, if you're going to keep me up all night,_ " Perry said, " _Then at least talk about something else. I don't want to think about…_ "

Applejack watched Perry become a little sullen, suddenly feeling very guilty. All of the gaiety that he had displayed suddenly vanished as Applejack watched the sad looking platypus trying to go back to sleep.

" _Look, Perry, I-_ "

" _Why should I even be talking_ __ _to you anyway, huh?_ " Perry growled suddenly, giving Applejack a bit of a sockdolager, " _After literally_ _ **everything**_ _you've put me through, from allowing my owner to be taken by the Norm-Bots, to hurting Pinky-_ "

Suddenly Applejack let out a hateful snarl that made Perry jump to his feet a touch. The dark room lit up a bit from the red glow on Applejack's mechanical eye. " _You're_ _ **still**_ _on that?_ " he asked in a truly irritated tone, " _I told you, I wasn't the one who hurt him. It was one of the mutants who dealt the blow._ "

" _You could've still saved him!_ " Perry retorted, full of anger from the memory, " _You could've helped him! You could've used your freaky robot powers to fight back, but you didn't!_ "

Applejack glowered. " _You just_ _ **love**_ _forgetting who the real bad-guys are, don't you,_ " he said flatly, " _You're not different from them, it seems…you follow your emotions for someone who did nothing but wrong yet when it comes to the people trying to deliver justice-._ "

" _Who in this wide-wide world cares about_ _ **them**_ _or any of your diluted little fantasies, Applejack,_ " Perry practically roared, thankful that his chatters were too dull for anyone but the goat to hear in the dead of night, __" _Hell, you know what, I don't care what you say! They seem to have more sense than you do!_ "

Applejack let out a gruff noise that served to raise the platypus' anger.

" _And you shouldn't be one to talk,_ " Perry stated, " _You just_ _ **love**_ _being annoying as much as you love being completely impossible to understand._ _But really, what's the difference between you and the bad-guys, anyway?_ "

Applejack looked a little marred by the comment. " _Pinky works for a guy who either wants you dead at best, and turned into a Cyborg at worst,_ " he said, " _I am trying to_ _ **help you**_ _by keeping that from happening. That seems pretty contrastive to me._ "

" _I never_ _ **wanted**_ _your_ _ **help**_ _,_ " Perry scowled, " _I just wanted to protect my owner! You nearly costed that for me!_ "

" _Oh, so it was my fault you nearly lost_ __ _him?_ " Applejack asked, " _I'd love to know how you came up with that conclusion, mister, because as I recall, if I had just let you go back there-_ "

" _You just had to complicate things,_ " Perry interrupted, " _You just had to prolong the rescue._ _ **You just had to allow Phineas to bond with that monster.**_ "

Perry's eyes widened at his choice word for his former nemesis as did Applejack's. The platypus looked somehow horrified and ashamed of himself, and turned his back to Applejack, completely silent. " _Please…leave me alone,_ " Perry murmured, " _Please? Can we just not talk about this?_ "

Applejack sighed in defeat, and looked up at the ceiling. They remained silent for a moment. It felt like hours to Perry, who was starting to think about what Applejack had said. He didn't want to, but he had to it seemed.

Why didn't Monogram want to see him?

" _Did you know that Candace and Phineas have a sister?_ "

Perry's eyes opened a little more, tempted to turn back to Applejack, who had his back turned to Perry's. The platypus instead shuffled a bit. " _You mean Doofenshmirtz's kid?_ " Perry asked, " _Va…Vanessa?_ "

" _Did we ever talk about her or-?_ "

" _I've met her a few times,_ " Perry explained, " _Back when Doofenshmirtz wasn't a total psychopath…_ "

" _Huh…_ " Applejack paused, " _I wasn't talking about Vanessa, though._ "

" _Hm?_ "

" _I said they have a sister,_ " Applejack explained, " _Indicating that they_ _ **still have one.**_ "

Now Perry's attention was grabbed completely. He rose his head up and looked to Applejack in wonder. " _Another sister,_ " he breathed, " _Another sister other than Vanessa?"_

Applejack's head bobbed, indicating a yes motion. Perry stared at the wall, squeezing the covers.

" _You're pulling my leg._ "

" _I'm totally serious,_ " Applejack said with a bit of a grin as he felt Perry ease up at his words, " _So, you see, there's this part of the base, further down than this floor-._ "

" _There's a floor lower than this one?_ " Perry asked bemusedly.

Applejack sighed. " _Please. No. Questions,_ " he begged, " _I really wanna get to the interesting part!_ "

Perry rolled his eyes and motioned for the pygmy goat to continue. Applejack's smile returned.

" _So, further below the base is a space, kind of like a small hallway,_ " Applejack said, " _It's hidden under the floor, so no one really knows about it. Anyway, in this space, there's a door with two red letters on it:_ _ **M.F.**_ "

Applejack proceeded to sit up, stretching a little. By now Perry had begun to sit at the edge of his bed, staring down at Applejack with utter curiosity. " _Behind that door is a room,_ " Applejack said, " _A plain looking one, no different from any other room out there, other than the immense amount of pink and red; some of it even clashes. There's color, but it's seems…muted, somehow. It feels sort of lifeless…except for the person living in there that is._ "

" _Their sister lives there?_ " Perry asked, " _Well…why haven't I seen her?_ "

Applejack fell silent.

" _...Applejack?_ "

Suddenly, the pygmy goat began to laugh a little. Perry looked even more confused than before. Applejack looked back to Perry with a strange looking smile. " _I'm not even supposed to be telling you this to be honest,_ " he admitted, " _Candace would kill me._ "

Perry suddenly flinched. Why, oh why, did he feel like that had a double meaning? Candace wouldn't…would she? Was this information really that top secret?

" _What do you mean, Applejack?_ " Perry dared to ask.

Applejack's annoyed look came back, though it wasn't because of the question itself. " _Because Candace is just as bad as…never mind,_ " he shook his head, his look softening a bit, " _The point is that no one's supposed to know about her. Like, at all._ "

Perry looked shocked at this. " _What?"_ he gaped a little.

Applejack sighed morosely. " _Such a shame, really,_ " he said, " _She's been locked up ever since this whole thing began. Poor thing doesn't even know about her brother, let alone her parents. She's been trapped there for so long, she probably doesn't know anything about anything; like a newborn in a teenager's body._ "

Perry frowned furiously. " _I don't remember her in our family, though,_ " he said, " _How come I never-?_ "

" _She's been there since Doofenshmirtz took over,_ " Applejack explained, " _She had sustained a head injury during the invasion that wiped half of her memories clean off. She would've been paralyzed had it not been for Monogram and his crew, I've gotta admit that."_

Perry smiled at this only for Applejack to give a rather displeased frown. " _Don't think this means he did it to help,_ " he said, " _Maybe part of him felt sorry for the kid, but he probably did it to gain the trust of the other Resistance Members at the time. Ad for Candace, she saw the opportunity to save her sister and took it, even if it costed her any memories of the outside world._ "

One day, he would learn why Applejack seemed to look down to those he followed, Perry thought to himself. One day…

" _Well…I guess that…sorta makes sense,_ "Perry nodded _,_ " _But why wouldn't Candace want anyone to know about her sister?_ "

" _Because of…certain events,_ " Applejack said looking away for a while.

Perry tilted his head. " _And…those events would be…?_ "

Applejack looked deep in thought, though from the darkness in the room Perry wasn't able to tell for sure. Moment later, Applejack seemed to come to a conclusion and sighed. He looked to Perry as he came to the decision.

"… _What I'm gonna tell you is kinda personal, okay?_ "

Perry slowly nodded at this, earning another sigh from Applejack. This one felt a lot sadder than the last one, and the usual spunk that the pygmy goat had seemed to vanish. In its place was pure seriousness that mixed with a familiar kind of angst; the look that belonged to that of mourning. But what could he be mourning about, Perry had to wonder.

" _This is the story of one of the Resistance's greatest members,_ " Applejack began, " _Her name was Danni Smith…_ "

 **A/N:**

 **Alright, part one of this chapter is done! XD I'll try post the next chapter immediately, though I prefer that you guys review both. ^^;**

 **Is it bad that I'm going to write an entire chapter dedicated to OCs? I feel like that's a bad idea for some reason, and I'm gonna try to make up for it in future chapters. ^^;**

 **But guess what; there's gonna be more Ferb in that chapter! YAY! XD**

 **Hope you enjoyed that! :D**


	11. Chapter 11

**And now it's time for Ferb to shine~! X3**

 _"Phineas and Ferb"_ **are owned by** _Dan Povenmire_ **and** _Jeff "Swampy" Marsh_ **who both work for** _Disney(c)_ **(** _ **LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!**_ **)**

 **Marissa Flynn owns Marissa**

 **And I own literally everything else this story has to offer (that is to say, Dr. Alice Schnitzel, Applejack, Danni, and other OCs and material)**

 **Enjoy! :D**

 **P/F/P/F**

 _Two week prior…_

 _Resistance Base_

 **(~)**

Upon arriving at the base, Ferb was once again met with the hatch hidden within the cornfield. It was a rather strange place for such a place to be in, yet Ferb found it all the more clever, since no one would suspect such a place to be concealed there. Of course, HE found it with ease, but only because he had Perry and Applejack reluctantly tell him where to drop them off. In hindsight, now that Ferb thought about it, Perry and Applejack both clearly regretted their decision of allowing him entry, as was Candace the first time he entered in.

This time was no different, as Ferb opened the hatch door, and began his climb down.

" _I wonder why he couldn't come here himself,"_ Ferb wondered in thought, _"Monogram is due for a visit in a few weeks anyway…very odd of him to send me in his place."_

Ferb reached the lower level, the hallways dark and currently lifeless. Ferb's frown augmented as he gave a small glance. "Would she even still be awake…?" he murmured.

"Of course I would be."

Most people would've flinched, and part of Ferb almost felt disappointed that he didn't seem to share that sort of feeling. He was engineered better than that, he supposed…better…hm…then why was he of weakness? Ferb rolled his eyes; the philosophical junk was clouding his head again.

Candace strolled in, crossing her arms with her trademark frown. Her sunglasses covered her eyes, as they always did. Ferb noticed the spectacles, and looked utterly confused at them. Why wear something that would abstain her vision at this time? Perhaps her glasses held capabilities for the dark; he knew for certain that she wasn't blind.

Then again, he himself had never seen her blue eyes before, so then again…

Ferb nearly gagged. Why was he being so quizzical? Why was he so curious about everything?

"I would think that someone who works so hard would try to get to sleep," Ferb stated calmly.

"I haven't slept since Danville was taken over," Candace sighed, "Not well, anyway…I'm…glad you could make it. Monogram sent you in his stead, I see?"

Ferb nodded. "Though I don't know why," he said, "He didn't explain exactly-."

"-Some of the Resistance members are…questioning him," Candace stated, cutting Ferb off (rudely, he might add, but he decided not to voice that opinion at the moment), "They don't like him very much; say there's something disturbing about him."

"I can't deny that," Ferb admitted, "He is a rather intimidating fellow. But that doesn't tell me much, now does it?"

"I wanted to send him private intel about our recent project," Candace stated, "One that we've been collaborating with him on."

Ferb hummed a bit. "Project…ah yes, that one," he nodded, "The study of-."

"Not here," Candace glowered (at least Ferb thought she did; he couldn't tell), "Like I said, I'd rather this be private. We'll discuss this in my office. This way."

Candace began to lead Ferb through the darkness, and Ferb continued to glance at the familiar hallways. He had visited here before, and he knew many faces. Many of which sort of feared him. Why would sending him out here be any better than Monogram's presence?

Then Ferb remembered Doofenshmirtz, and sighed. Of course, he'd probably put his top priority on keeping an eye on Doofenshmirtz, if he managed to survive his injuries, which he probably would. Ferb groaned, knowing all his work had been for not. Though Monogram reassured him otherwise, that it had been a part of his plan, Ferb still felt unsatisfied.

They reached Candace's office that doubled as a room. Ferb saw that rolled up mat that indicated that Candace did sleep, or at least was capable of rest. "So," Ferb started, "About the project…what did you want to tell m… _him?_ "

Candace looked to Ferb, taking off her sunglasses. Ferb saw the hint of sadness in her eyes as she stared at him for a mere few seconds before frowning deeply. "So…nothing…" Candace murmured, "Still nothing, eh?"

Ferb felt himself glare, his annoyance rising. "About the _project_ ," he emphasized with gritted teeth.

Candace shook her head, as if getting out of a trance. "Of course," she said, "I apologize…you see, part of the reason why he sent you was because…I wanted to…never mind, it was foolish to think-."

"It's fine," Ferb said, eye-rolling once more, "I could care less, honestly. But if you would, please, tell me what I need to know so I can return posthaste?"

"…Right," Candace nodded returning to her professional stature, "Down to business. Dr. Baljeet and the other scientists are working hard on our part; we've gathered more information on the subject from an outside source."

"Dr. Mystery?" Ferb scoffed, "Am I right? He was always the least mysterious person on this planet; he tried to hide things so much that he became predictable. I'm gathering it was easy?"

"Very easy," Candace said, "I'm almost disappointed that it wasn't harder than it was. Of course, it was the basic information; apparently the more detailed statistics and information lie with Poofenplotz in another region."

"Of course Doofenshmirtz would trust that kind of information with her," Ferb sighed, "It makes sense…but she's so vain and forgetful. She's probably thrown that information away by mistake."

"She couldn't have," Candace said, "It's all in her computer; in fact, I doubt she even knows that she has it. What Doofenshmirtz threw away the blueprints for the machine in question, he made sure to put them in specific areas. We've already gotten three of the prints; we just need to get into her computer somehow."

Candace smirked directly at Ferb. "And that's your job, most likely," she stated, "Get us that final blueprint, and we'll be ready to go…probably."

"There's still a chance Doofenshmirtz may be sending us on another goose chase," Ferb stated, "What if it was in DEI? What if it was destroyed after I blew it up?"

"He wouldn't risk that," Candace stated, "If I know him well enough, then he wouldn't 'waste' a good idea. He's…a lot like…no. He's nothing like my brother; he can't be."

Ferb sighed. Candace just loved to ramble about things that left him utterly confused, didn't she? "Yes," Ferb said, "And how is your…brother?"

"Phineas?" Candace asked, "Oh, he's fine now. His injuries are healed, though I'm still keeping an eye on him. I'm still worried about how he seemed to…you…I didn't really thank you for bringing him here, did I?"

"Not properly, anyway," Ferb shrugged, "And honestly, not even that would've made it worth it. He was quite the trouble grabbing, and…" he looked away, "…he _**irritated**_ me, if I may be frank."

Candace seemed to become just a little uncomfortable at those words. "Well, I have to say I understand why you'd feel that way," she admitted, "He asked you a lot of things, didn't he? He's very-."

"Curious? Inquisitive? I can tell. Though he asked very familiar questions…"

Candace cringed, biting her bottom lip.

"Oh well," Ferb shrugged, "It doesn't matter to me. Not at all."

Candace felt relaxed by this answer, and managed to continue her front. Ferb looked back to her, not having noticed her reactions. "Is there anything else you need to tell me?"

"There is," Candace nodded, "It's about Applejack."

Ferb froze. "…That goat again," he almost laughed, "Really, now, I wouldn't think you'd bring him up of all things…and what of that platypus, Perry? Come to think of it, he-."

"This is about him too," Candace said, harsher than she meant at that moment, "It's very important, alright? Monogram wanted to know if I accepted the terms of their amelioration."

Ferb looked pleasantly surprised at this. "Ah, yes," he rubbed his hands together, "And what is your answer."

Candace seemed to lack any hesitance whatsoever, not even losing a beat. It was like she had rehearsed these lines in front of a mirror over and over again. "Tell him that I agree to the intersession, and that their transport will be scheduled in a month or so. I still need them to handle something for me before they can undergo the process. And Ferb…?"

"Yes?"

"I also want Monogram to do me a favor, in regards of my brother. When he visits, I'd like them to have a meeting; I'm aware that Phineas confronted him while he was with Doofenshmirtz and his lackey, and I want to make certain that his true intentions are known. That may help Phineas in making a proper decision on his stand."

"Of course," Ferb nodded, "We need all the help we can get, after all…even if it's from such an annoying-."

"-Hey," Candace glared, "That's still my brother you're talking about, Ferb. Don't say anything brash."

Ferb smirked challengingly. "Ah, really," he asked, "Is that so? You're truly close to him, eh…and what if he chooses his father over you; then what?"

"He won't," Candace said, "He'll be persuaded. He just needs a push. He's been confused over the situation. That's all. Kids are easily persuaded after all."

"Is that right…but you really didn't answer my question, now, did you? What if he decides that where you stand isn't the same as where he does?"

Candace scowled, but kept her mouth shut for a moment. Ferb felt himself grinning at her frustration. "I have a right to remain silent on that," she said, "Now, as for Monogram's part-?"

"-We haven't forgotten," Ferb said, "We're still keeping Doofenshmirtz distracted, as much as we can anyway. He's too preoccupied with his regained memories…"

"…Regained memories…" Candace looked down, "Wait…regained memories…he…remembers now. He remembers Phineas is…and me…"

"…Which means he'll probably be coming here any moment," Ferb stated, "He's smart enough to figure everything out, and once he does he'll be ambushing this place."

Candace gave a crunched expression. "We'll be ready for him, then," she stated, "I won't let him take my brother away."

"Or your sister, right?"

Candace chuckled at this statement. "Please," she reassured, "He probably thinks she's dead, like everyone else at home. The bombing killed so many people, she wouldn't be any different."

"Ah, but she wasn't the only one to survive," Ferb reminded her, "She was just the luckier one."

"I don't see why her impairments make her luckier than everyone else," Candace frowned, "I understand why you think this; people lost their limbs, their abilities to walk, even their memories. So honestly, I can see why they're clearly suffering more than she is. But that doesn't mean you should miniscule her-."

"-Blindness and brain-damage, am I correct? Along with her almost losing all the motor skill she had, but you managed to fix that anyway, yes?"

"…Without those glasses Dr. Baljeet gave her, she wouldn't be able to see a thing," Candace explained this like she had a hundred times before when the subject of her sister came about, "She's as blind as a bat without them, though that hardly matters when she herself suffers from memory-loss herself. She couldn't even recognize me when this all started out."

"She simply can't remember pictures," Ferb stated in a phlegmatic tone, "She remembers everything else fine now. She just can't remember people's faces."

"Yes," Candace sighed, "When you put it like that, I suppose I know at least one person who's worse off than her…"

Ferb glared once again. "Stop staring at me like that," he demanded, "It's very rude."

"I…sorry…" Candace rubbed the back of her head guiltily.

"And furthermore, isn't this helpful to you?" Ferb asked, "Didn't you say it was better that she didn't know the face of her father?"

"Yes, I did," Candace sighed, "But…it just bothers me that…she can't even remember mine very well. She can remember my voice, but every time she sees a familiar face it's like a whole new experience."

"All that would do to her is make her bad with directions," Ferb shrugged, "It's not really as much of a casualty as the others who was harmed and even slaughtered. And besides, she'll still know how to use-."

"I told you, I'm not sending her back out there," Candace glared, "She's too weak for fighting anyway."

"Yet you're sacrificing your younger brother to the field?" Ferb asked, not meaning to sound malicious, but was truly curious about her intentions, "I've sparred with him before. True, he has that technique for knocking me out, that little pinch. But I nearly slaughtered him regardless."

Candace glared. "Thank you for reminding me," she growled, remembering why she didn't thank him before when Ferb returned her brother to her, "And I don't intend on making him go anywhere near Doofenshmirtz. What I do want is to put his technological skills to good use; with Dr. Baljeet, they'd be able to create machines far more impressive than Doofenshmirtz could ever make. It'd be one step closer to beating him."

"Using your brother's skill against your father?" Ferb giggled, "Ooh, you are cruel, Miss Flynn!"

Candace gave another cold look before she put back on her sunglasses. "If we're done here," she said, "Then you may leave, Ferb. Unless there's anything else you'd like to mention?"

"Nothing comes to mind," Ferb shrugged, "You seem to have everything under control here. I'll be making my leave. I'll see you around, Miss Flynn."

"Bye Ferb…"

Ferb left immediately after that, feeling some kind of anger boil inside of him after he left, as if he was waiting for Candace to tell him something, though he didn't know what that was.

 **(~)**

 _Five days later…_

 _Poofenplotz Beauty Empire_

 **(~)**

 _Poofenplotz Evil is Crazy~_

Prof. Esmerelda Poofenplotz was not really the brightest among those at LOVEMUFFIN, if she was even technically a member of their organization. Perhaps her lack of part in it gave Doofenshmirtz a reason to supposedly trust her with the given blueprints to the machine in question. Of course, that wasn't the case, not entirely; he simply sent it to her under the regards that she never opens the files that the document had contained. As expected, Ferb was in charge of apprehending the information.

Failure was NOT an option.

As he, Monogram, and even Carl had experienced before, the documents had a backup file within them that allowed them to self-destruct if unwelcomed visitors tried to steal it. Doofenshmirtz seemed pretty keen on making sure no one got to these blueprints. Ferb entered the building the same way he had entered DEI; shorting out the security first, and then entering through the front and taking down anyone who spotted him.

Poofenplotz's robots were more based off of her than anything else. It was supposed to be aesthetically appealing, but really it didn't even accomplish that. The robots were as horrifying as they were weak and pathetic. Ferb managed to destroy them all with ease, none posing much of a threat. He wondered how Poofenplotz even planned to make much of an effort in means of protecting herself and her line of power.

Ferb decimated the door leading to Poofenplotz's office, effectively knocking everything in the blast's range back, including Poofenplotz herself, leaving only her desk intact. Ferb entered while Poofenplotz took refuge behind her workplace. "Who's there?!" she shrieked, "I warn you, I-I am NOT to be trifled with! I am far too busy to be attacked right now!"

"I don't mean to trouble you," Ferb explained, holding the head of one of Poofenplotz's robots under his left arm, "I simply wish to look into your computer files. That's all."

"Go away before I call security!" Poofenplotz stood, feigning bravado so much that Ferb was able to see right through her, "I tell you, I do not have the time for these shenanigans, you little brat!"

Ferb smirked at the insult, rather amused at her attempt at getting an upper hand of any kind. "I destroyed your security," he stated, "That's far more than what any ordinary _brat_ could do. Now, if you would please-?"

"Security! Security, come in here, now! Throw this ruffian out! Before he harms your gorgeous empress! SECURITY!"

Ferb sighed as Poofenplotz kept trying to phone in the robots he had already dismantled. Was this woman dense or too terrified to hear anything he had to say? Regardless, he was getting bored of this. Ferb began to stride towards the desk, to which Poofenplotz fell back, pulling a small statue of herself with her.

Poofenplotz used the said statue, pointing it at Ferb. "I'm warning you," she said, "I know how to use this! Step away from me immediately! This is no way to treat a lady!"

"Oh, I am terrified, Esmerelda Poofenplotz," Ferb feigned, "Truly I am. But the job is far too important for me to just leave. So," he proceeded to grab Poofenplotz by the collar of her dress and pulled her up to his face, "If you refuse my demands, I'll simply have to kill you. Nothing against you, really, it's just that I'm on schedule, and, well…I hate being late to deadlines."

Ferb proceeded to squeeze Poofenplotz's neck, and the woman seemed to go white with fear, no longer trying to hide anything as she felt that no air could enter her lungs. The statue fell to the floor, chipping it in the process. "F-f-fiiiine," she choked out, "My computer is…over there!"

Poofenplotz weakly pointed to the girly, over-scaled computer screen, with a small keyboard in front of it. Ferb smiled, threw Poofenplotz to the side effectively stunning her in the process, and headed for the computer, rubbing his hands together. "Ah, yes," he chuckled, "Thank you so much Poofenplotz for your cooperation."

Poofenplotz muttered something less desirable, but Ferb ignored her. Once they were done with everything, she'd be begging on her knees like the coward she was. Like the cowards everyone in this pathetic little world was, in fact.

"GASP! My poor face!" Poofenplotz shrieked as she lifted up the statue she had dropped, "My poor beautiful face!"

"I hear you," Ferb sighed, "It's a tragic loss, but I'm sure everyone will move on knowing your ugly mug is off of ONE of your products."

Poofenplotz glared hatefully at Ferb. "Why I never-!"

As Poofenplotz's ramble came off on deaf ears, Ferb took out a hard-drive from his pocket; one for this special purpose. A normal hard drive would simple store extra documents or data, but this one doubled as a hacking device. It was little things like this that made Ferb appreciate Carl, the mastermind behind the little trinket. Yet Ferb could find every fault within its programming without having to take it a part.

For one thing, it was very slow. Ferb was an impatient person as it was, especially given how on time he liked being. The device may be able to hack computers with relative ease, but it also seemed to have a mind of its own, having pauses as if it was hesitating. It was a bloody machine, for crying out loud, with the ability to break into mainframes of literally every kind of computer out there no less! You would think Carl would make sure to work out those kinds of kinks.

Then there was the process in itself. Unfortunately, no one had intended for the documents to actually start to self-delete themselves (of course Doofenshmirtz would have a 'self-destruct' button for _everything_ ), so that part had to be done manually. Ferb cracked his knuckles, smirking. He was really good with computers…then again he was good at a lot of things.

"What exactly do you want from me?" Poofenplotz snarled, "If you want the secret ingrediants to my Extra-Fabulizing Shampoo, than ha! The information isn't even IN that computer."

"I'm not going to waste my time with hair products," Ferb stated, hearing a faint gasp of horror from Poofenplotz, "I'm after something fair more important."

"More important that beauty products?! Ruffian!"

"Oh, right," Ferb nodded, "You went insane after Doofenshmirtz took over DEI, right? You've become obsessed with the Economic Industry ever since; every market, store, or anything available in the country that's worth being is probably owned by you. That's probably why Doofenshmirtz gives a shit about you."

"Doofenshmirtz means nothing to me," Poofenplotz smirked, "I have corporate power; I practically own this world."

"Ah, yes," Ferb rolled his eyes, "Which is why Doofenshmirtz still has a tight leash on everyone in LOVEMUFFIN. Tell me, why haven't any of you rebelled against…ah…right. He'd kill you all. And you're all in it for self-preservation, am I right?"

Poofenplotz growled in rage as Ferb finished his work, taking out the hard drive. He grinned in success as he turned to make his leave. "Thank you for your time, Poofenplotz," he nodded to her, "And don't worry…"

Ferb gave one last grin to Poofenplotz. "When we're through, Doofenshmirtz won't be a problem anymore."

 **(~)**

 _Present_

 _The Mutated Forest_

 **(~)**

"Ugh…oogh…bleh…"

"Don't you dare get sick on me…so, does this mean you're awake? Or are you just making noises in your sleep to elude me?"

"H-hm…uh…mm…H-Heinz…?"

"Is that a _yes_?"

Schnitzel's eyes fluttered open as she looked to see that she was, indeed, still in the forest, and not in the digestive track of a random plant. She looked up to see Doofenshmirtz, carrying her through the area into refuge underneath the particially deracinated roots of a giant dead tree. "Heinz…how…"

What had happened…the last thing she remembered was crashing the airship and being eaten by a ravenous sentient plant. Schnitzel looked over to see the car-esque vehicle that Phineas had built after they escaped Monogram's underground base. "So…that's how you got here, huh…?"

Doofenshmirtz set Schnitzel to the ground by what appeared to be a medical bag, waiting for them by the wreckage, holding back a smirk. "Nice to see you too," he said, "Other than the fact that I'm still really mad at the fact that you tried to go at this on your own, I'm actually _glad_ you're okay."

Schnitzel nearly swooned but somehow fought the urge to as her anger took over her relief. "So you try to _kill me_? Is that it?" she glared weakly, "You are insane, Heinrich Doofenshmirtz."

"I admit, I may have overreacted," Doofenshmirtz shrugged casually, "What's done is done, though. Now shut up and rest. I have the thing that might help…"

As Doofenshmirtz looked through the bag, Schnitzel huffed in anger. "An apology would be nice," she muttered, "But I guess I can't ask much from you, can I?"

Doofenshmirtz gave a black look. "I saved your life," he said, "You should be thanking me. Or would you have rather been eaten by that plant monster?"

"Please," Schnitzel scoffed, "Knowing your reasons for doing things here and back at home, I'd say that you saving my life has lost a little meaning after time…still…you did come all this way…"

Schnitzel smiled at Doofenshmirtz, sighing contently as she leaned against the metal holding her back up. "Thank you, Heinz," she said sincerely before jokingly adding: "For sparing my life after you nearly murdered me for _trying to save your son._ "

Doofenshmirtz rolled his eye as he took out some bandages and knelt over by Schnitzel. "Please, you lived," he said, "Stop your whining and hold still."

Schnitzel pouted. "I am not whining," she said, "If anything, I'm questioning your methods…I mean, may I reiterate that I was trying to-"

"Hold still," Doofenshmirtz said in a more stern tone, tearing out a strap of bandages and dipped them in a familiar liquid, "This is gonna sting quite a bit…you're lucky that the attack didn't damage your stitches, otherwise you'd be bleeding out."

Schnitzel eyed Doofenshmirtz for a moment, before a sudden memory recurred to her. She looked down to her side, where underneath her usual attire were indeed stitches. She quickly sat up, staring at Doofenshmirtz, who was now quite irritated with her behavior, with a shocked expression. "Wait!" she exclaimed pointing at him with her injured arm, "What the hell are you even doing here?! Aren't you still injured?!"

Doofenshmirtz stared at Schnitzel, his lips pursed as an awkward silence persisting before the dictator proceeded to slap on the bandages onto Schnitzel's injured arm. The injured doctor proceeded to scream so loud it echoed through the forest.

 **A/N:**

 **Yay, instead of a part two chapter like I promised, I give you all more Ferb! I should give the guy more spotlight given what he's going through and stuff; plus, he's fun to write for.**

 **Also, the project in question ACTUALLY has a purpose for this, but it won't be revealed until much, much later. (And I do mean much, much later…)**

 **I initially was going to make this a flashback chapter about Danni, and I was going to post it on Valentine's Day; that's actually why I wasn't able to update it in the first place. I've decided I'm going to save that "chapter" for either a one-shot or another chapter. It's most likely going to be the one-shot if at all. I did this because of Vanessa, actually; because why should I focus on a dead OC more than a dead canon character? It makes no sense, especially given how little you all probably care about Danni anyway. XD**

 **I'll be honest, I do not like writing for Poofenplotz at all. Not that I don't enjoy her, she's a hilarious character and I love her voice; it's just that I can't write her very well. But yeah, I decided to give her some spotlight, though it's more for world-building than anything else.**

 **Candace…CANDACE…I really don't like her. Not in this fic, or any other fic, or even in the show; let me get this out of the way, she is my LEAST FAVORITE character. I cannot BELIEVE I can write her like this AT ALL, because she makes me so squeamish inside. Linda may be an idiot, and Monogram may be the most tactless fool out there (** _because, yeah, telling a bunch of kids who fought a robot army that YOUR OWN ANIMAL AGENTS could not defeat "it's dangerous, you know too much" and making them erase their memories in order to keep your best agent, who ALSO stood less of a chance against the robot army without the help, totally makes sense_ **), I can at least enjoy their antics; yes, even Linda has become more tolerable because I can tell that she cares. Candace is annoying as all heck; sure there are moments where I can enjoy her like I can for any PnF character, but I mostly despise her. Let's make that clear you guys. MAKE NO MISTAKE, she is my least favorite PnF character.**

 **Alright, now that I'm done with that rant, I suppose I should apologize for the slow updates; work may suck, but it gives me money and I am a greedy little girl. I wanna bank it! XD I'll be off for a few days, so I'll have plenty of time to update my stuff and maybe write some one-shots (if I don't procrastinate doing it that is…)**

 **So, I hope you guys enjoyed; be sure to review and stuff and as always have a glorious day!**

 **God bless,**

 **-GTS**


	12. Chapter 12

**YUSH! I am out of my funk! Thank you, Marissa Flynn, for helping me in my dire need! XD**

 **Anyways, here's more for you guys! Enjoy the show~!**

 _"Phineas and Ferb"_ __ **are owned by** _Dan Povenmire_ __ **and** _Jeff "Swampy" Marsh_ __ **who both work for** _Disney(c)_ __ **(** _ **LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!**_ **)**

 **Marissa Flynn owns Marissa**

 **And I own literally everything else this story has to offer (that is to say, Dr. Alice Schnitzel, Applejack, Danni, and other OCs and material)**

 **Enjoy! :D**

 **P/F/P/F**

"Hm…hm…yup, this definitely looks familiar."

Phineas sighed, almost in aggravation as he leaned against a large piece of equipment. This time, it was a rollercoaster, not even close to being finished. The last time, Phineas remembered being inside of a treehouse that could transform into a fighting robot, and the time before that was a machine that could teleport anything within the vicinity by placing a picture into the magnificent creation. He rolled his eyes, looking at the sunny sky.

When was the last time he ever saw the sun this bright and hopeful? Ever since Doofenshmirtz took over…he shook his head. He didn't even want to hear his name. Things were bad enough as they were, with all the stress and confusion. He simply let it happen.

"3…2…1…"

And with that, the scene changed to one scene that kept on repeating itself, though not exactly. Sometimes it would be Schnitzel who woke him up and tried to convince him of their strange reality. Other times, like now, it was his father. He enjoyed it better with Doofenshmirtz, since unlike Schnitzel he would not transform into his abusive mother. He wouldn't transform into anything, really.

He was just himself the whole time.

However, as a result, he kept on remembering how awful he was every time he saw him. He also remembered that, perhaps, in spite the abuse he dealt with, that his father wasn't that bad. Or maybe that was denial. Maybe he really was just a monster after all.

Yet after everything, how could Phineas not think that there was hope? He was always that stupid and ignorant as to believe there was a light at the end of the tunnel, even when it was obviously impossible, and even when the realistic approach stated that he may not like the outside after all. Phineas decided to just sit there and listen to whatever the illusion of Doofenshmirtz had to say to him this time.

Last time, Doofenshmirtz had told him that Perry had died, and they had to turn him into a Cyborg. Applejack escaped, but his body was found after Ferb had proceeded to crush the robotic part of his head. For some reason, Phineas remembered that Schnitzel was a complete mess. Phineas never got to see Perry as a Cyborg, and he was glad that he never would.

All he wondered now was what new excuse they'd give to him now.

But instead, Doofenshmirtz laughed, almost mockingly. "You know, you've gotten pretty good at this, kid," he said, "You know us all so well, you can read us like books…heh…"

Phineas looked to the dream version of his father, tilting his head. This was definitely new. They never really acted aware before. Or maybe it's just gotten to the point where it just got too predictable even for the dream itself to handle? It needed some sort of twist.

"You really wish things were different?" Doofenshmirtz wondered, tilting his head; his voice shifted ever so slightly, to the point where some of his dialogue sounded a bit like Phineas' own voice, "You should know how impossible that really is. These dreams of yours don't serve as a comfort, you know…"

"Then why do I keep having them?" Phineas mouthed, not really having the strength to speak in his dream, yet the dream Doofenshmirtz could hear them clearly, "And why are they so similar to each other? What do they mean?"

Doofenshmirtz shrugged and proceeded to sit next to his son, humming a bit. They sat there, silently, before the dictator began to ruffle Phineas' hair. "You know," he said, "Maybe it's trying to tell you something…"

Phineas looked up, blinking. "Like what?" he asked, tilting his head curiously.

Doofenshmirtz looked down to Phineas again, his blue eye turning red in a flash. Phineas flinched, but only a little; this had happened before in other dreams. It still bothered him that he imagined that his father could do that with his eye. At least it wasn't like the ones where his scar would turn out to be an endless black hole.

Doofenshmirtz frowned. "Run."

"…Run?"

"Run. Maybe it's telling you to run."

"…You mean…run away from here?"

"You've done it before. Isn't that how this whole thing got started, kid?"

Phineas looked to his knees, hearing his mother screaming again. He sighed. "Is she coming again?" he murmured, feeling his chest tighten.

Doofenshmirtz grinned. "Don't worry," he said, "Schnitzel's keeping her occupied."

Now this was surprising. "Wha-?"

Doofenshmirtz grabbed his son's shoulders, and stared at him seriously. "Now, listen to me carefully, okay?" he said, "When you get the chance, just get out of here, and don't look back. You know deep down that something's wrong. Not just emotionally; only fools look into their hearts for answers, like your father always told you. Logically, you know something is wrong. With Monogram, with Candace…"

The dictator went on, though Phineas didn't quite hear the other names other than-; Doofenshmirtz cut his thoughts off before he could drift off. "Pay attention," Doofenshmirtz ordered, "If your mind wanders off, you'll forget everything. You cannot forget this."

Phineas nodded, and did his best not to doze off. Doofenshmirtz nodded back. "You need to run," he said, "Forget about what they're telling you, and run. When you get the chance, go, and don't turn back. _This isn't real_."

That last sentence sounded like Doofenshmirtz was speaking in unison with several other familiar voices, and Phineas founded himself struggling not to think of those people. Doofenshmirtz flinched and reached out to him in a panic as the boy fell back, just as Linda, in the form of some kind of monster, broke through.

" _This isn't real! Run! Phineas! Phineas!"_

 **(~)**

"PHINEAS!"

"AH-!"

Phineas was just about to fall off the bed before Marissa caught him and proceeded to cover his mouth. She stared at him intensely. "What are you doing here?!" she shrieked, "It's morning!"

"M-morning…?" Phineas blinked. _I…fell asleep?_

"We fell asleep!" Marissa said, sounding panicked, "What time is it?! I don't have a clock down here!"

"Wait…what?" Phineas blinked, "Why wouldn't they give you a clock?"

"Isabella always tells me what time it is when she comes down to check on me, and then I'm able to deduce it by counting in half seconds."

Phineas blinked again. "Half seconds?" he asked tilting his head, "Are you serious?"

Marissa shrugged. "You'd be surprised how bored I get," she simply said.

"But, Marissa-!"

The teen immediately covered Phineas' mouth as the faint sound of footsteps ran down the stairs. Both Phineas and Marissa became pale. "Oh, god, she's here!" Marissa gasped, "Quick! Hide!"

"Where?" Phineas whispered before he heard Isabella knocking on the door furiously.

"Marissa?! Marissa, are you in here?! I saw the secret entrance was open!"

Marissa grabbed one of her pillows, and pulled the case off of it. Then, she stuffed Phineas in it, kicking the discarded pillow underneath her bed, and jumped on top of her mattress, pretending to sleep on Phineas. Isabella suddenly knocked the door open, a terrified look on her face.

"MARISSA?! ARE YOU-?!"

Isabella's expression softened when she heard Marissa groan, sitting up to rub her face. "Ugh…Isabella, what the heck?" she glared 'tiredly', "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"…It's morning," Isabella answered, her voice coming out as shaky; Marissa pretended to be too tired to notice.

"Oh," Marissa smiled, "Is it now? I wasn't sure."

Isabella stared at Marissa, who yawned. "Oh well," she said, "Gonna go back to sleep now…mm…nice chat, Isabella, ma'am, an'…snore…"

Isabella tilted her head slightly, humming a bit as she fell into thought. She shook her head, chuckling nervously as she left, murmuring to herself, "I must've left it open…clumsy me, heh…"

Isabella shut the door. Marissa quickly lifted up the pillow case and poured Phineas out, dropping him head first on the floor. Phineas moaned, lifted his head, and casted his friend a death glare. This shocked Marissa, who was on her bed kneeling. "What?" she frowned, "Why are you mad at me?"

Phineas rubbed his temples. "You know," he started, sighing, "I could've hid underneath your bed instead of being stuffed inside your pillow case."

Marissa blinked as she stared at Phineas, who waited for an answer. Her eyebrows narrowed. "Shouldn't you be trying to get out of here?" she asked, "Given that if you get stuck here-?"

"Oh, right!" Phineas jumped to his feet and started to sprint to the door, "See ya, Marissa!" he stopped to point at the teen. "You owe me an apology, by the way."

Phineas ran out the door, slowing down the moment he saw the back of Isabella. He quietly closed the door behind him and tip-toed up the middle of the stairs just before they started to rise up and form into the flooring. Phineas froze for a moment as Isabella seemed to hum to herself, muttering about the opening. Phineas took a few steps back silently, with Isabella simply not paying very good attention as she quickly marched away.

Phineas' eyes followed her around the corner, and for whatever reason, he had the sudden urge to 'accompany' her down the halls.

 **(~)**

Once she stopped screaming, Schnitzel continued to struggle as Doofenshmirtz continued to tend to her wounds. She had experienced this type of pain before, so really, it should be nothing. But Doofenshmirtz was clearly still mad at her for not including him in her scheme, and was trying to make the experience as painful for her as possible. She gritted her teeth and whined.

"I'm almost done," Doofenshmirtz assured harshly, "Quit moving around."

Schnitzel simply gripped the grass with her hands as Doofenshmirtz finished re-stitching her side. Her face was red, given that he had to remove her black buttoned jacket and undershirt in order to do the task. She was surprised that Doofenshmirtz has completely unfazed by the prospect of his partner being half way to stripping. But he was, and he managed to perform the surgery well. She was impressed.

Once he was done, Doofenshmirtz took out a towel from the bag and a container of water, which he used to wet the garment before he began to clean the wound. Schnitzel seemed to calm down by now, only wincing in pain. She now started to sympathize with the Cyborgs who feared her methods.

Schnitzel looked to Doofenshmirtz, eyeing him. "So…tell me again," she swallowed, "Why did you insist on the elixir after I told you it was lethal?"

Doofenshmirtz lifted up the towel and wrung it, not even setting his eyes on Schnitzel as he focused on what he was doing. He hummed a bit to himself. "Perhaps it's because you ditched me and I wanted to get you back," he shrugged, "Or perhaps…because I'm desperate. Maybe a little bit of both."

"You're that desperate about getting your son back?" Schnitzel asked, "I mean…really? You never really cared about him before you figured it out, did you?"

Why was it now that she was questioning his methods? Schnitzel realized that she might've hit a nerve there, and she looked apologetic at the dictator, who said nothing to answer her. Instead, he set down the towel, and reached into the bag once again, showing the said elixir of her creation. He examined it, or looked like he was anyway.

"You said the effects were immediate," Doofenshmirtz stated, "Yet I've had it in my system for hours, and nothing's happened to me. I feel fit as a fiddle."

Doofenshmirtz popped the cork on the bottle, and Schnitzel felt her eyes widened. He took a sip (a rather big sip) and placed the cover back before plopping it into the bag once again. He calmly looked at Schnitzel. "Though, I must say," he admitted, "I'm starting to get addicted to the stuff."

"…Addicted?" Schnitzel tilted her head, "You mean you can't get enough of it? That doesn't give me much comfort…"

"Well…it's more or less a craving," Doofenshmirtz said, "I don't know why…it tastes…familiar somehow…what did you use to make it, anyway?"

"Some plants in Drusselstien," Schnitzel said, "I have the list of ingredients back at DEI in my office files."

"Do you remember any of it?"

"Not by heart."

"Hm…then I'll make this stuff last."

Schnitzel's eyebrows narrowed. "Heinz, this is serious," she said, "You can't just keep taking it, it could kill you!"

Doofenshmirtz merely snorted nonchalantly, tossing the bag to the side before taking a seat next to Schnitzel to recline. Schnitzel glowered. "Heinz…"

"If anything, drinking more of it has sped up the healing process," Doofenshmirtz stated, "I'm feeling better and better."

Schnitzel huffed. "That's an excuse an alcoholic would make," she stated, "Trust me. I've been on that road. That stuff is gonna kill ya'."

Doofenshmirtz blinked, and looked to Schnitzel in surprise, tilting his head. Schnitzel watched him carefully. "What?" she asked.

"I didn't know that you drink," Doofenshmirtz said, "I thought you weren't into that. You once claimed that you'd taken an oath never to drink or smoke."

Schnitzel rolled her eyes. "That was then," she said, "And so are my drinking days. I did a lot of it after my mother passed away, my sister Elvira took over our father's company, you and-."

Doofenshmirtz's eyelids rose up, as did Schnitzel's. The doctor coughed, and she turned away, pulling the strap of her bra uncomfortably. "I…well…" she cleared her throat, "My sister Iris took over the school in Louisburg, Iowa before the plant infestation or whatever…I dunno what's up with her, now…"

Schnitzel glanced over to Doofenshmirtz, a half-lidded stare on her face. "Mind tossing me my clothes," she asked, "I'm looking mighty indecent at the moment."

Doofenshmirtz looked on at her carelessly. "You look fine to me," he said before pausing upon inspection, "…Although…"

Schnitzel raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I didn't expect them to be so…" Doofenshmirtz raised his hands up to his chest, making an odd motion with them that confused Schnitzel, "Big."

"What do you mean-…?" Schnitzel felt her eyes widen as Doofenshmirtz slowly grinned at her.

Doofenshmirtz went to pick up her discarded clothes, laughing at his own bloody nose, the one Schnitzel gave him after lobbing him with her injured hand. She was currently whining in pain, yelling at Doofenshmirtz for making such a horrible joke. Once Schnitzel was once again fully dressed, she felt much better, but continuously casted Doofenshmirtz death glares that were as effective as Phineas'.

They didn't do much. At all.

"So what do we do now, you psychopath?" Schnitzel asked flatly, "Are we going to assume Phineas' car, ship, thing is gonna be able to take us all the way to their base?"

"You're complaining about me being underwhelming, when a giant blimp seems to be selling it a little too high, don'tcha think?"

"Hey, I had my reasons! It has…had a cloaking device. I would've been able to sneak in, grab Phineas, and get out."

"And you thought that this plan would work…?"

"Well, why wouldn't it work?"

God, why did she have to say that? Schnitzel sighed as Doofenshmirtz gave her that grin that said "I'm glad you asked" before going on a rampant as to why Schnitzel was wrong once again. "Let's start with the fact that you can't fight anyone to save your life," Doofenshmirtz said, "You're terrible with hand to hand combat."

"YOU UNDERESTIMATE ME!" Schnitzel scowled, "I handled those mutants fine, or have you forgotten?!"

"Yeah, during an adrenaline rush," Doofenshmirtz stated, "Though, you are right, you can handle yourself in certain kinds of situations, and you can use weaponry at least better than Phineas can."

"So what's the problem then?" Schnitzel crossed her arms like an angry child, pursing her lips into a pout.

"You panic too much," Doofenshmirtz explained, "You have the capabilities, but you're far too anxious to actually pull it off. Adrenaline is the only thing going for you, and we both know the results of that."

Schnitzel winced. Oh, how she hated it when he was right. "Anything else…?" she asked, deciding to take the criticism with as much stride as she could give out.

"Then there's the fact that you're accident prone," Doofenshmirtz said, "You get yourself into trouble when you're by yourself, so it's obvious you're gonna get yourself caught. Even if you'd get to Phineas, they'd probably find you, and shoot you down. Even if you manage to survive, they'll keep you prisoner, and then what'll you do?"

Schnitzel blinked slowly as Doofenshmirtz waited for her patiently with a knowing smirk on his face. "Then there's the fact that you've decided to come here on your own, completely outnumbering yourself," Doofenshmirtz went on, shaking his head, "Not even _one_ Norm-Bot, Schnitzel? Goodness, I never thought you would be this reckless."

"You'd notice," Schnitzel said, "That's why I went on my own…of course…I didn't take into account that you'd be able to tell of my absence."

"I've known you for years, Schnitzel," Doofenshmirtz stated, "Ever since we were children, in fact. I can tell these things."

"I suppose so…" Schnitzel hummed, "You've made your point…unfortunately."

Schnitzel glared again as Doofenshmirtz gave a victorious chuckle. She rolled her eyes. "So," she said, "You never answered my question. Will that ship Phineas made really be enough to get us to the Resistance base?"

"Perhaps," Doofenshmirtz said, "It's not meant to be a big trip, anyway. We're just grabbing him and getting out."

Schnitzel looked at Doofenshmirtz, sighing. She'd ask why Doofenshmirtz didn't bring Norm-Bots of his own, but then again, he was far more tactful than she was along with the fact that, again, this man could take down men far bigger than he was. She already knew the answer, then, really. "Are we going to leave now?" Schnitzel asked, "Or when? How long have you been flying?"

"For about three hours," Doofenshmirtz said, "It was hard to look for you in this place. We should leave as soon as possible, though, given these plants…"

"So, how did you manage to keep the plants away from the ship anyway?" Schnitzel wondered, "Used cover or what?"

"I swear, the kid thought of everything when he built this," Doofenshmirtz nodded, sounding extremely impressed, "He had a built in pheromone spray on it to make it smell like a caterpillar. The plants immediately fled."

Schnitzel blinked. "Why?" she asked.

"Why else? Caterpillars eat plants…though…I don't think he even knew about the plant infestation to begin with, so I don't know why exactly he did that."

"Maybe he's just weird like that? Like, he's into the smell of bugs?"

"Alice, that's just…actually…as odd as that would be, I'd believe it."

Schnitzel nodded at this statement as Doofenshmirtz slowly began to shudder at the thought of his son having a weird fetish like that. Schnitzel looked a little impatient. "So what exactly are we waiting for, then?" Schnitzel asked, "Shouldn't we be on our way?"

"Well, I'm sorry, if I was preoccupied with your injuries," Doofenshmirtz stated flatly, "And that I was oh-so rudely interrupted by your inquisitive nature. But alas, we can't leave yet."

"Please tell me it's not out of gas," Schnitzel groaned, "The last thing I need is for another plant, mutant, or whatever to try and eat me."

"Not technically," Doofenshmirtz said, "This thing runs on sun-power."

Schnitzel guffawed at the idea. "Oh my god," she laughed, "And here I thought he was just a nuisance. The kid's an eco-nerd?!"

Doofenshmirtz sighed. "Yeah, the more this nature-stuff is brought up, the more I think that your theory may be right," he shook his head, "I am starting to worry about him for far more different reasons now."

"So, it's night-time," Schnitzel deduced, "So we can't fly outta here?"

"Unfortunately…but we can hide in the ship until the sun rises. Again, Phineas thought of everything. This thing is a frigging nuclear weapon."

"Huh…for a tree-hugger, he's kinda violent," Schnitzel shook her head, smiling lightly, "I will never understand him."

"Let's just go," Doofenshmirtz said, standing up, "Or are you too injured to move?"

Schnitzel was tempted to lie, staring up at Doofenshmirtz. Why the hell was she romanticizing now? She was insane. "Nah, I'm fine," she finally said, pushing herself to her feet, wincing, "It still hurts, but I can take it."

Doofenshmirtz nodded at this. "Good," he said, "Then let's hurry. These things are beasts. I'm surprised they didn't go after me after I got to you."

Doofenshmirtz and Schnitzel both carefully maneuvered to the vehicle, which thanks to some repairs by Doofenshmirtz was as good as new. Schnitzel smiled at Phineas' creation before she flinched, covering her nose. Doofenshmirtz snickered, also covering his own nostrils with his fingers. "So, what do you think?" Doofenshmirtz laughed, "Such sweet aroma, huh?"

"Oh, god, it smells like my grandma's house!" Schnitzel groaned in horror, "UGH!"

 **(~)**

Isabella rubbed her hands together as she took a look at the training field, one of her own design; pits of death, climbing walls that protruded spikes, true challenges that would make a soldier faint. Isabella grinned. To her, this was a walk in the park. She cracked her knuckles, started the timer wrapped around her wrist, and rushed through.

Though she was far from the strongest, in spite being able to take on even Buford, she was agile as could be. The Firestorm Girls, all but her taking a break from their activities at the moment, were practically the Resistance ninjas, their practices being completely secret to the rest of the world, even most of the Resistance members. Only few were allowed to even watch them train, much less take part in it.

Isabella swung across the pit of flaming death and bloodshed, bodies of those who had foolishly decided to take their test with no regard to the consequences still burning at the bottom. Next, Isabella practically wall-jumped to the other side of the climbing wall with no trouble, and slid in a pose upon landing; she rushed through was appeared to be a hall where thorns filled with poison were immediately shot at her, dodging every single one with fair ease.

She imagined a crowd, watching her, praising her for her skill, even if the room was mostly void of humanity at the moment. Yes, Isabella admitted she was a braggart, and she admitted she loved and craved for attention. But who's to say that she didn't deserve it? Isabella snickered at the thought of Buford or anyone else who dared to oppose her.

She was above them. She was better than them. She practically out-classed their skills.

If Candace would just listen to her, they would've beaten Doofenshmirtz by now.

Isabella thought more of this as she began to climb a large pole, where a flag hung from at the top. Yes. She should be admired, listened to, encouraged to be listened to. She knew exactly how to take down any opposing enemy out there.

So why didn't Candace trust her enough to listen?

As Isabella reached the top, balancing on one foot, she grabbed the red flag, and took a bow, grinning. They'd see. They'd all see; Candace would learn eventually that she was right. And then, when this was all over, maybe-.

Isabella gasped upon hearing someone clapping for her, as if her imagination of a large booming crowd came to life. But no, that wasn't it; only one person seemed to come to life, someone who was fairly insignificant to her. She nearly lost her balance, and ending up jumping off the pole. She took out her timer, and pressed on it to stop. She glared.

"Ugh, three minutes and thirty six seconds?" Isabella glowered, "I'm getting rusty…"

Isabella's eyes widened. Wait. She was distracted. That wasn't the exact time.

Isabella looked around, glaring. "Show yourself, now!" she said angrily, continuing to look around, while her single audience member walked over, oblivious to her growing rage and was simply marveling at her in a whole.

He made the mistake of tapping her on the shoulder, and a bigger mistake of chuckling at _her_.

With that, Phineas suddenly found himself being flipped over and slammed to the ground, Isabella Garcia-Sharpio giving a horrific stare. It didn't do much to affect Phineas, since he had seen worse, but it gave a much different reaction than Isabella had hoped for. It was blank, emotionless, and only slightly shocked. Isabella's glare weakened, but she kept him pinned regardless.

Yet, the glare wasn't what Phineas saw. No. He saw a goddess, giggling at him, caressing his face, calling his name in a most beautiful, adorable voice. Inside, he had one of the biggest grins on his face as he stared into those endless blue orbs, the same shade as his own eyes. There was a silence between the two, Isabella's huffing and puffing filling the air.

Her breath smelled nice, Phineas noted.

Phineas smiled nervously. "…Hi…uh…Isabella," he greeted, "How are you doing, he-he?"

Isabella pulled away, eyeing the boy suspiciously.

 **A/N:**

 **And now I can finally put that Phinabella notice on the summary! XD**

 **Thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed! Please, review, critique, like, follow, or whatever you desire! X3**

 **Have a God blessed day, and happy Easter by the by! XD**

 **-GTS**


	13. Chapter 13 (fake)

**Today is a beautiful day.**

 _"Phineas and Ferb"_ **are owned by** _Dan Povenmire_ **and** _Jeff "Swampy" Marsh_ **who both work for** _Disney(c)_ **(** _ **LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!**_ **)**

 **Marissa Flynn owns Marissa**

 **And I own literally everything else this story has to offer (that is to say, Dr. Alice Schnitzel, Applejack, Danni, and other OCs and material)**

 **Enjoy!**

 **P/F/P/F**

Phineas was shocked at the turn of events that had been displayed before him. One minute, he had been pinned down by probably the prettiest (and scariest) girl he had ever seen. The next, he was tied up, dangling above a large pool of sharks with the said girl, Isabella, handling the machine that either kept him from being eaten by said creatures, or would send him to his death. No, she was not happy one bit.

"Alright, this opens so many questions," Phineas stated flatly, "One, how did you set this all up so quickly, I didn't even notice the shark tank before. Two, why would you have a shark tank in the first place? And three, all of this because I tapped you on your shoulder; jeez, you're cute, but you're really sensitive."

"Quiet, you misogynist dork!" Isabella snarled, "I am sick of all you boys making a mockery of our female heritage like you did!"

Phineas cocked one of his eyebrows. "Female heritage?" he asked, "Okay, I'm not sexist or anything, but what the heck does that even mean? I didn't even do anything!"

Isabella suddenly shuddered as she looked at Phineas closer. "Okay, change of subject, how do you do that with your eyebrows?" she asked, "They're not even attached to your head. They're just floating…"

Phineas gave the hovering red strands a couple glances of confusion before he slowly realized just how creepy that was. All he could do was shrug, having no idea how to answer the question. Isabella shuddered once again as she turned away. "Seriously, those things are weird," she said, "Ugh…"

"See? You're overly sensitive," Phineas stated, "You need to calm down and apologize for putting me in this situation…though, honestly, getting me out of it will suffice, too."

Isabella glared. "Not until you apologize for laughing at me and catching me off guard!" she shouted.

"Okay, okay, you big crybaby, I'm sorry," Phineas said, far from a sincere tone of voice due to the annoyance in its place, "I apologize, that was rude of me, and I'm a bad person for doing that, a horrible person, even. Can you put me down now?"

Isabella rubbed her chin as she hummed in thought. A small smirk appeared on her face as she crossed her arms. "I want your opinion on some things," she stated, "Answer them correctly, and I'll let you go."

Phineas blinked. "Uh…o-okay," he nodded, "I think that's…reasonable."

"Question number one," Isabella pointed at her hat, "Do you like my hat?"

Phineas tilted his head at Isabella for asking such an innocent question, not giving a verbal answer until he knew for sure that she was being serious. Isabella simply gave a smile to the boy, who continued to stare at her. "…Yes," he answered slowly.

Isabella nodded, satisfied with the answer. "Good," she said, "This sounds promising. So, if a tree falls, and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?"

"Uh…I-I guess it does."

Isabella sat down on a chair, reclining against the wall, grinning at Phineas. The red-headed boy grew increasingly uncomfortable. "Who's better," she proceeded, "Boys or girls?"

Phineas smirked at this. "Why, Isabella," he shook his head, "Don't you believe in equality among the human ra-AH!"

Phineas began to plummet towards the sharks, who hungrily gnashed their teeth, barely missing Phineas, but were able to tear off part of his shirt. The boy shrieked in terror as Isabella watched, waiting for a proper answer. "Girls! Girls are better!" Phineas cried out, "Please, please don't kill me!"

"Good boy," Isabella nodded, pulling the rope holding Phineas back up before asking, "Which is better; briefs or boxers?"

Phineas became even more confused at the question as Isabella simply waited for his answer. He looked around as if expecting there to be cameras videotaping some weird prank. "Uh…boxers, I guess?" he tilted his head further.

"So, you wear boxers?" Isabella asked.

"…I don't need to answer that question," Phineas said, starting to feel uncomfortable.

"Oh I think you do."

"Can we move on, please?"

"But I'd really like to know."

"Yeah, that's kinda personal and-."

"Yawn, I'm getting bored; I think I'll just flip this switch and watch you get eaten by sharks; sounds much more fun."

Isabella slowly reached for the handle as Phineas struggled in the ropes, shrieking in terror before he finally decided to give in. He sighed. "…I'm…uh…" he muttered to softly for anyone to hear.

Isabella grinned evilly. "Enunciate," she sang, "Or we may not be able to understand you~."

Phineas glared at Isabella's cruelty and sighed. "I'm…not…wearing any…at this moment," the boy grumbled, his face turning red.

Isabella giggled. "And why is that?" she wondered, "I am curious…"

Phineas stared at Isabella exasperatedly as the Firestorm Leader waited patiently. He grew tired of this and glared. "You know what?" he sighed, "Just feed me to the sharks. I don't care anymore."

Isabella folded her hands together. "Are you sure?" she asked, "This is a lot of fun for me, to be honest."

As Phineas glared hatefully at Isabella, who simply continued to wait for the boy to answer before doing as he asked, the walls of the room suddenly exploded. Doofenshmirtz and Schnitze walked in, covered in blood, and holding a large weapon of some kind that no real human being would be able to lift up. Doofenshmirtz grinned knowingly at the shocked Phineas and Isabella while Schnitzel rolled her eyes at the arrogant dictator. "We have killed everyone in the base," Schnitzel announced, "Release the boy at once!"

Phineas grinned. "Guys, thank god you're-!" he paused, "Wait…you killed everyone in the base? Even Candace?!"

Doofenshmirtz shook his head. "Just most of the people in the base," he explained, "Everyone else is being held hostage in the cafeteria room. Schnitzel's overreacting because she's having a mental breakdown from witnessing murder ten times more than she usually does."

"So much death…" Schnitzel stared down at the floor with near-soulless eyes, "So much death…"

Doofenshmirtz looked at Schnitzel, almost feeling guilty as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, we might've gone a little overboard," he paused, "And that's coming from me."

"She seems fine to me," Phineas admitted, "Also, what took you jerks so long?"

Schnitzel, seemingly calmed down by the boy's 'loving' insult, smiled. "Well, we had an incredible journey of self-discovery," she stated, "Your father and I are currently in a state of emotional solution and-."

"Oh, god, you and Schnitzel finally got each other laid?!" Phineas said, looking surprisingly pleased by this, "Alright, dad!"

"What?! NO!" Doofenshmirtz glared exasperatedly in disgust, "Dude, no, no, we don't even-AUGH! Son! When we get home, you're grounded for, like, twenty years for even thinking, ugh…gross…I have more standards than that, you freak!"

Schnitzel, feeling very unloved, walked to a corner and sobbed to herself as Doofenshmirtz continued scolding his son in fast pace for having such disgusting thoughts. Phineas simply gave a "you know you want it" look at his father, whose anger rose. Isabella took the apparent family reunion with a grain of salt, and had the same look that Phineas did. After an hour of ranting, Doofenshmirtz calmed down with a sigh. "But in all seriousness," he said, "We killed a Monkey God that wasn't actually a god, and a half-pint banana-man."

Phineas stared. "…What?" he blinked.

Doofenshmirtz shrugged. "I'd explain what that means," he said, "But then I'd be ruining this 'amazing' story for all these pathetic, worthless teenaged filth reading this crap."

Suddenly, a said teen with strange blue hair and floral attire burst in from the back room, running in as she laughed nervously at the audience, who were exceedingly insulted by Doofenshmirtz's comment. "I apologize for that comment," she shrieked, "He doesn't mean it one bit! You're all beautiful people!"

"You live in your mother's basement!" Doofenshmirtz shouted, earning more groans and rotten tomatoes that he graciously accepted, "Get a job, you lifeless schmucks!"

The teen gave a harsh glare to Doofenshmirtz, who was not affected at all. By this point, she wished that she was working with the other version of her senpai instead of working with this jerk. Hell, she'd rather be working with any of the other versions than with these insane muckers. She took out a spray bottle, walked over to the powerful dictator, and pursued to spray him in the face in the middle of another one of his insults. Doofenshmirtz hissed at the girl, threatening to scratch her in the face.

"Don't do that," Phineas warned, "He's feral!"

"Use a roll of newspaper instead," Isabella suggested, "That's much more effective."

The teen nodded at this and took out said roll of newspaper, smacking Doofenshmirtz on the head a few times with the object before he grabbed the roll from her hand and started hitting her with it to see how she felt. The teen ran away, telling him to "knock it off" while Doofenshmirtz laughed at her misery like a crazed loon. Phineas and Isabella watched this, laughing.

"Oh, man, I didn't think she'd fall for that," Phineas chuckled.

"I did," Isabella cackled shaking her head, "Such an idiot…"

"Back! Back I say," the teen shouted as she took out a chair and smacked Doofenshmirtz on the head with it; which wasn't a good idea as he proceeded to grab it and throw it to the side, hitting Schnitzel on the head as she turned around to see what was going on. The teen stared at Doofenshmirtz, saying pleadingly, "Don't kill me! I'm too pretty to die!"

"Says your mother," Doofenshmirtz smirked.

"Don't bring my mom into this!" the teen yelled, "She's a wonderful woman! I swear, I will perform an autopsy on your still conscience body if you continue to insult my family!"

Doofenhsmirtz rolled his eye. "Sheesh, you're so sensitive," he said.

Phineas smirked. "I know, right?" he asked, "Same with Isabella. They must be crushing on us."

Doofenshmirtz nodded before cringing and looking to the teen. "Look, I'm like, fourty-six," he stated, "And you're, what, sixteen?"

"Nineteen," the teen muttered, looking to the side, "And no, that's not why I-!"

"Look, the point is simple," Doofenshmirtz stated with a calm smile as he patted the teen on her shoulder, "No matter how hard you try, no matter how you look, and no matter how nice of a person you are, I will never love you. Heck, I don't think I even like you. I find your kind to be disturbing."

As the teen proceeded to join Schnitzel, who was on the floor groaning in pain, in her corner to weep, Doofenshmirtz grinned. Phineas and Isabella frowned. "Dude, that's messed up," Phineas shook his head, "I mean, Schnitzel's one thing, but at least that psychopath is what keeps our universe going anyway."

Doofenshmirtz shrugged and looked back at the audience. "Now where was I?" he hummed, "Oh yeah! You're all losers, get a life, we don't want your kind here!"

Isabella glared. "Dude, what is your problem?" she asked.

"Yeah, dad, you're acting more of a jerk than usual," Phineas stated, "And…now that I think about it, I'm not sure this is even realistic. Weren't you and Schnitzel in the forest of living plants or something?"

Doofenshmirtz looked up at his son. "How do you even know that?" he asked, tilting his head.

Phineas somehow managed to squeezed his arms out of the bindings and took out a large flab of paper stapled together; it was titled " _ **Yard Bird**_ _, written by Galaxina-the-Seedrian_ " with the worst handwriting a teenager could conceive. "I read the script," Phineas said, opening the script and reading from it, "You caused Schnitzel to crash in a blimp…I can't tell which is more excessive; the fact you tried to kill her for attempting to save me, or the fact she was using a blimp to get here."

"Wait, seriously?" Isabella looked at Doofenshmirtz in confusion, "Why'd you try to kill someone who was going to rescue your kid?"

Doofenshmirtz blinked at the little girl, thinking through his own thought process before he kindly told her to, "Shut up."

Just as Doofenshmirtz spoke, Schnitzel slowly sat up, groaning in pain as she rubbed her head. "I feel something warm running down my head, Heinz," she whined a little.

Doofenshmirtz grinned, giving the girl a thumbs up. "It's called blood!" he stated, "Congrats! You are having a concussion!"

Schnitzel whined in pain before she felt the teen clinging to her tightly, sobbing her eyes out onto her black coat. Schnitzel's vision began to fade ever so slightly as the world around her began to shake a little. She squinted her eyes at Doofenshmirtz as the man continued to insult the audience as Phineas and Isabella continued to ask what the heck was with his behavior. All the noise was hurting Schnitzel's head.

Suddenly, another door slammed open, and Marissa entered the room. "Oh my god, will you people please SHUT UP!?" she shouted, "I am trying to mope quietly in my room of solitary confinement in peace, and your freaking shout-fest is making that impossible!"

Marissa looked around at the chaos before her, shrugging at the angry audience and bleeding/crying Schnitzel before noticing Phineas hanging from the ceiling. "What the hell is going on in here?!" she demanded.

Isabella gasped. "Marissa!" she covered her mouth, tears of joy coming into her eyes as Marissa marched over to her, "Oh, Marissa, you're talking properly! It's a mira-ACK!"

Isabella struggled in Marissa's grip as she was raised up by the throat, being forced to look at Marissa in the eyes. "Put my adorable little sugar muffin down this instant!" she demanded in an unholy voice.

"Sugar muffin?" Phineas and Doofenshmirtz asked in unison, giving each other uncomfortable glances as Marissa seemed to be covered in a dark aura; still, it didn't stop Doofenshmirtz from cracking a mocking grin that Phineas promised to punch off the moment he was freed.

Isabella cried out in terror, begging for mercy as she was dropped to the floor, and immediately scrambled to her feet to do as Marissa said. The usually quiet, sweet teen tapped her foot impatiently while giving a look that made Isabella start to cry a little. Doofenshmirtz whistled, impressed by this totally random girl's actions. "Wow," he laughed, "I've never seen someone with such prowess in anger before!"

However, he soon replaced his smile with a look of terror as Isabella pulled the wrong lever, which sent Phineas plummeting into the shark tank. Everyone stared in silence, stopping what they were doing as the sharks began to attack Phineas, who screamed, "OH MY GOD, AAAAAH! I CANNOT BE IN ANY WORSE PAIN RIGHT NOW!"

Marissa stared in the most horror, tears entering her eyes as she fell to her knees, watching the boy being torn to pieces in front of her. Isabella fell to the floor, hugging her knees, sobbing out of fear of what Marissa was now planning for her. Doofenshmirtz walked over to the two girls and hugged them both comfortingly. "Well…this is depressing," Doofenshmirtz sighed, coughing a little, "Another one of my children just died…is…is it weird that I'm numb to this?"

"My…my poor…sniffle," Marissa cried into Doofenshmirtz's side woefully, "Oh, my dear friend, I'm sorry I couldn't save you…"

"THEIR TEARING AT MY INNARDS, SOMEBODY HELP ME!"

"He's in a better place now," Doofenshmirtz sighed sadly as he patted Marissa on the head, "You will be missed, Phineas Funderburger Doofenshmirtz."

"I'M STILL ALIVE AND IN A LOT OF-wait, FUNDERBURGER?! THAT'S MY MIDDLE NAME?! YOU CHOSE FUNDERBURGER YOU PR-OH GOD THEY'RE EATING MY FLOATING EYEBROWS!"

Schnitzel moaned again, earning everyone's attention. "I'm starting to forget things," she whimpered, "Where am I and why does my head hurt? Who am I? What's the meaning of life?!"

Everyone proceeded to throw random objects at Schnitzel, telling her to shut up. Schnitzel ran away, crying as she kept on either running into walls or tripping over the corpses of hers and Doofenshmirtz's victims. Doofenshmirtz, Marissa, and Isabella continued to mourn the loss of Phineas, who was continuing to scream for one of them to help him, as he was still alive. The teen continued to hug her knees, sobbing to herself.

 **(~)**

Galaxina-the-Seedrian looked to her friends, Marissa Flynn and woodland59, with an excited look on her face as she folded her hands together. "So," she sang, "What do you guys think?"

The two girls stared at their clearly mentally insane friend with a disturbed stare on their faces, glancing to each other in wonder. Woodland59 took a small step back while Marissa took another look at the story. "Uh…it's…definitely interesting," Marissa Flynn cleared her throat, "It's just…well…maybe you may want to consider…a different ending?"

"Y-yeah," woodland59 nodded vigorously from behind Marissa Flynn, "I mean…don't you think this comes outta nowhere?"

"Well, that'll be the big twist," Galaxina-the-Seedrian said, "Imagine the look on everyone's faces when they realize this'll be the end of the series! Seems like something I'd do, right?"

Marissa Flynn and woodland59 gave another worried glance at each other that Galaxina-the-Seedrian seemed completely oblivious to. "Look…we're just saying that this seems a bit…" Marissa Flynn made a bit of a motion with her hands trying to find the nicest way of saying this, "Uh…morbid."

"What, you mean too morbid for MY tastes?" Galaxina-the-Seedrian laughed, "Girl, have you read any of my content? I'm pretty sure morbidity is the least of your worries."

As the blue-haired teen started to laugh madly, woodland59 leaned into Marissa Flynn's ear and whispered, "I think we should hide in the bunker, don't you think?"

"I don't think that place is safe for us anymore," Marissa Flynn whispered back, trying to quell back her terror as she cleared her throat, "Think of it like this, Gala, dear; what about the endings for the characters you planned for them? What about the other stories you intended? Is this really how you want this to end?"

Galaxina-the-Seedrian hummed to herself in thought as woodland59 nodded in agreement. "Yeah," she added, "And what about _my_ OC! You said you were gonna put her in! You promised!"

Marissa Flynn glanced to the side, muttering so that no one could hear her complaints, "Not to mention _my_ OC is completely out of character, I mean, c'mon…you went a little overboard there…" she added the next one loudly as if it had to be said, "And how dare you put Phineas through that torture, you psycho!"

Immediately, Marissa Flynn apologized profusely for her insult, but Galaxina-the-Seedrian simply continued humming louder in thought to herself as she looked back to her computer. By now, Marissa Flynn and woodland59 were wondering if the crazed girl was even listening to them. Galaxina-the-Seedrian suddenly shrugged off anything they said. "Yeah, I don't care," she said earning the shocked looks from her friends, "My fic, my rules! Time to upload this baby to the world!"

Marissa Flynn and woodland59 shrieked in horror as they tried to stop Galaxina-the-Seedrian from doing anything rash in slow-motion. Galaxina-the-Seedrian stared at her friends before she shrugged and proceeded to log into FanFiction, cackling evilly at the screen before a screen popped up, indicating that the internet access was not working. Galaxina-the-Seedrian and her friends stared at the screen silently.

"…Uh…so," Marissa Flynn rubbed her arm awkwardly, "That happened."

"…"

"…Gala, are you okay?" woodland59 asked, tilting her head, "Gala…Marissa, she's not responding. Is that a good thing or…?"

Marissa Flynn sighed shaking her head. "Give her a moment," she said as her hands showed her mentally counting down from five.

A few seconds later, Galaxina-the-Seedrian proceeded to attack her computer, calling it names, and throwing it around like a crazed toddler. As woodland59 stared at the carnage before her with wide-eyes, Marissa Flynn, who was surprisingly chill, simply began to drink a soda. "You'll get used to this," she sighed, "This happens every time she tries to piss off the fandom."

"Wait…she's trying to piss off the fandom?!" woodland59 looked at Marissa Flynn in shock, "Why would she do that?!"

Marissa Flynn sighed again, glaring at the wall as winds began to blow in the room dramatically, confusing woodland59 as she said that she swore all the windows were closed. Marissa Flynn stared at the calendar.

"It's April Fool's Day."

As Marissa Flynn and woodland59 continued to watch Galaxina-the-Seedrian's fall into madness, the three titular characters of the said story, Doofenshmirtz, Phineas, and Schnitzel, walked in. "Yo, Gala, are you done with the script for the next train-wreck yet?" Phineas asked before he noticed what Doofenshmirtz and Schnitzel immediately saw; Galaxina-the-Seedrian chewing on the keyboard in a fit of rage.

Doofenshmirtz looked at Marissa Flynn and woodland59, who simply shrugged at him before he looked to Phineas and Schnitzel with an unimpressed look on his face. "The internet shut down on her again," he sighed.

Schnitzel rolled her eyes and proceeded to walk out of the room, grumbling something along the lines of, "I'll get the tranquilizer."

 **A/N:**

 **I am so sorry; this was done out of bad taste, and since it's April Fool's and all…yeah. I'll be working on the actual next chapter right now. Again, I am so sorry. X'D**

 **Have a great day everyone, and please don't come to my house and burn me! :D**

 **-GTS**


	14. Chapter 13

"Are you feeling better?"

Galaxina-the-Seedrian, sitting on a couch chair, wrapped in a blanket shivering, and drinking some hot chocolate nodded her head. At one side of the chair with Marissa Flynn, and on the other was woodland59, both at the ready to grab Galaxina-the-Seedrian in case she did something drastic. Meanwhile, Phineas was talking to her calmly as Doofenshmirtz and Schnitzel held up weapons in case, again, Galaxina-the-Seedrian did something crazy. Everyone looked like they had been in some kind of struggle.

"Now," Phineas said, "Don't you think that ending was a little farfetched?"

"…Yes," Galaxina-the-Seedrian mumbled.

"Okay, so you listen to a fictional character but not your friends," woodland59 deduced.

Marissa Flynn shrugged. "It's Phineas," she said, "He's pretty convincing."

"But he's not even re-!"

"Shh…he's convincing, woody."

Marissa Flynn smiled softly at Phineas, while woodland59 tried to figure out exactly what she meant. Phineas continued.

"I mean, you made Isabella into a psychopath, made Doofus more of a turd than usual," Doofenshmirtz shot his son a glare for the nickname and insult, "Made Schnitzel into a suicidal crybaby," Schnitzel shared Doofenshmirtz's expression, "Made Marissa into more of a psychopath than Isabella…and I'm pretty sure my middle name isn't Funderburger."

Doofenshmirtz nodded. "Though, admittedly, I _was_ tempted," he said, earning a jaw-drop and eventually an earful from Phineas.

Schnitzel gave Galaxina-the-Seedrian a somewhat caring smile. "So, don't you think you can come up with something…a little more believable?"

Galaxina-the-Seedrian began to hum to herself. Marissa Flynn sighed. "Please tell me you're actually listening," she begged, "I'm sorry, but there's no way you were going to make this end so ridiculously grim, right?"

"Well, I was going to have the first version of the story end with Schnitzel going mad and killing Phineas, Doofenshmirtz, and then herself…"

Galaxina-the-Seedrian paused as she began to think about the idea, while Doofenshmirtz and Phineas slowly turned their gazes to Schnitzel. She sighed. "You really think that's unbelievable given the crap you two pull on me?" Schnitzel asked, "Especially you, Doofus."

"I've noticed that everyone is getting more and more comfortable with that nickname," Doofenshmirtz stated flatly, "I don't approve…not at all…so please, knock it off, or I'll have to kill you."

"…Nah," Galaxina-the-Seedrian said, "I won't let that happen."

"The ending or the murder attempt?" woodland59 asked.

Galaxina-the-Seedrian shrugged. "Both."

Doofenshmirtz looked disappointed, to which Schnitzel gasped is offense. "Will I ever get to kill anyone?" he asked, "I mean, you rated the last one for character death, and…now that I think about it not many people died."

"Plenty of animals died," Galaxina-the-Seedrian stated, "Are you saying animals aren't people, Heinz?"

"Yes," Doofenshmirtz said without missing a beat, "I mean, sure, the agents of OWCA are pretty anthropomorphic, but animals are still anim-AH!"

As luck would have it, as Doofenshmirtz was stating his lovely opinion, Perry and Applejack were walking by. In a fit of rage, Applejack tackled into the dictator's legs, knocking him over, and the two animals began to punch him in the face. Doofenshmirtz struggled to get them to stop. Phineas and Schnitzel tried very hard not to laugh, while Marissa Flynn and woodland59, both arguably no better than Galaxina-the-Seedrian, snorted.

"Serves you right," Schnitzel grinned, only for Applejack, still bitter against her for whatever reason, tackled her down, "DAMMIT!"

Phineas proceeded to hug his stomach as he laughed at Doofenshmirtz and Schnitzel. "Oh, god, this is rich," he said, "I wish I had some popcorn. This is great!"

Galaxina-the-Seedrian shook her head, surprisingly calm. "This is why updates are so hard," she said, "Because you guys are too crazy."

Phineas glared. "We're too crazy?" he asked, "Look at your reflection and tell HER that. And furthermore, blaming people for your misfortune is the best way to fail."

"But…but," Galaxina-the-Seedrian frowned, "It's so easy…"

"Easy is for the weak," Phineas said, "Now, sit your butt down-."

"-I'm already sitting."

"And write that next chapter!"

Galaxina-the-Seedrian sighed as all eyes stared at her to get to work. "Fine, fine, FINE," she said, "I'll write a better chapter…though that ending is tempting."

"No, no it's not," Marissa Flynn said, "That's a stupid ending," she paused, "No offense."

"And though I love you, Gala," woodland59 said sweetly, "If my OC doesn't show up soon," she did a one-eighty into a fit of rage, "There will be hell to pay."

Galaxina-the-Seedrian squeaked. "I said I'll do it!" she cried out as she took out her lap-top and began writing, "Sheesh…why are all of my friends crazy…?"

"Because you're crazy, Gala. We're not even real. We're just figments of your imagination."

"…Oh yeah…"

Galaxina-the-Seedrian glanced around the room she was in, now completely empty. She smiled as she continued to write, humming something from Hamilton or whatever. She sighed blissfully. "I really need to see a therapist…"

 **(~)**

 **Okay, joking aside, here's the _real_ chapter. Hope you like it~! X3**

 _"Phineas and Ferb"_ **are owned by** _Dan Povenmire_ **and** _Jeff "Swampy" Marsh_ **who both work for** _Disney(c)_ **(** _ **LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!**_ **)**

 **Marissa Flynn owns Marissa**

 **And I own literally everything else this story has to offer (that is to say, Dr. Alice Schnitzel, Applejack, Danni, and other OCs and material)**

 **Except for one thing…**

 **Enjoy~!**

 **P/F/P/F**

Phineas gave probably one of the friendliest smiles that Isabella had ever seen anyone give. Maybe it was because of the serious factor within the Resistance what with their agenda, but it just felt alien to see that kind of smile in the midst of all that had happened. Still, Phineas smiled at her while they sat in a small cozy breakroom that smelled like freshly cut wood, eating cookies of all things. Isabella sighed as she took a sip of mint flavored tea.

"Wow, this stuff tastes good," Phineas said, "Did you make 'em?"

"Milly and Ginger did, actually," Isabella said, "The Firestorm Girls used to be a girl-scout troop. This is some of the stuff they did before Doofenshmirtz took over."

Phineas whistled. "Wow," he said, "Quite the contrast to what you guys are now."

"Yeah," Isabella said, "It is."

"Do you bake at all?" Phineas tilted his head, "Or maybe cook sometimes? I've always wondered who makes the food at the cafeteria."

Isabella shook her head. "I'm not too bad at baking myself," she said "I just…don't like it much."

"Hm…I guess I see why," Phineas admitted as he stuffed another cookie into his mouth, "I haven't tried it myself, but it sounds hard."

Isabella cocked an eyebrow. "And building machinery isn't?" she asked, "I mean…that's what you said you were into, right, making machines and such?"

Phineas shrugged. "I'm smart in one thing and dumb in others," he explained, "Like, see, I'm good at making machines and drawing blueprints, but I'm horrible at dancing, juggling, reading…"

"Wait," Isabella blinked, "Why reading?"

"It's a rusty skill, let's say," Phineas sighed, "I mean, I'm glad I know enough to do it, but given that we never had schools it's…hard, you know?"

Isabella nodded in understanding. "I suppose your right," she paused "But you can read, right?"

"Duh," Phineas laughed, "Just because it's hard for me doesn't mean I can't do it. But my point still stands; I don't know how to do everything."

Isabella silently took another sip of her tea, and nodded at Phineas. The red-haired boy continued to smile, and by now it was intriguing to Isabella as to why such a person would be like this in such a dystopian world. "You still haven't told me why you were watching me," Isabella told Phineas, who raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Oh, I haven't?" Phineas asked, "Huh…sorry. My mind must've wandered a bit then."

Phineas laughed a little, and Isabella almost saw that as a crime. "I'd still like to know," she said, "That's how this whole conversation came into motion anyway. It would be kind of a waste to leave that unanswered."

"I don't think so," Phineas said, "I think that this is going quite nicely so far," he became a little awkward, as if embarrassed, "Though I'll be honest I thought you were going to kill me or something…"

Isabella looked baffled. "Why would I do that?" she asked, "How would I do that?"

"I dunno," Phineas said, "While you were dragging me in here, I'll admit I was having a bit of a freak-out. I was imagining you feeding me to a shark."

"…A shark?"

"Uh…yeah."

"Where would we even put a shark? Why would we even have one in the first place? And as if Candace would let me get away with that without having my neck…"

"That's what I thought! And looking back to that, it was pretty ridiculous, heh…but as for your question!"

Phineas took another cookie and popped it into his mouth, humming happily at the sweet taste. He had never eaten something like that before, at least as far as he could remember. "I can't really answer it," he admitted, still smiling, "I have no idea why I was watching you. I guess I was just at the right place at the right time."

There was absolutely no way that Phineas was going to tell Isabella that he followed her to the training room. Thinking about it now, it made him sound creepy. Isabella, who was unfortunately very smart, looked at the boy flatly. "Uh-huh…" she slowly nodded, "Is that so?"

Phineas rose up his hands defensively. "I'm serious," he said, "I have no idea why I decided to watch you train," his smile remained, and Isabella seemed to flinch just slightly, "But I must say you were amazing."

That much was true. He really didn't know why he followed Isabella, and decided to watch her. Then again, he was more confused as to how he had perceived her earlier. Did he really have enough knowledge to truly understand exactly what he was feeling? He tried to remain as he was before, as Isabella seemed to take his words with a prideful smirk.

"I try," Isabella said, "Thank you for the compliment. Though for future reference, how about not sneaking up on me like that again? I almost broke your back, and I'm pretty sure Candace would've had a few choice words with me if I did that."

Suddenly, Phineas began to frown. Why did that bother Isabella so much now that he was giving off the same look that literally every other Resistance member gave? "A lot of people seem to fear my sister," he said, "I'm not so sure how I feel about that…"

"Well, she's the one in charge," Isabella stated, "We have to have respect towards her."

"Yeah, but," Phineas took another cookie, "Even you seem to be affected by her…"

Isabella glared a little. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked.

"No disrespect to you, I'm sure," Phineas assured, "It's just that I've noticed you mentioning that getting Candace angry doesn't exactly lead to good things."

"It doesn't," Isabella shrugged, "Isn't that how all leaders are, though? If things don't go their way, they're upset. It's only natural. Candace is like that, Doofenshmirtz is like that…"

Phineas flinched. Oh god, here it comes…

"What was it like back at DEI?"

And there it was.

Phineas' smile came off as a little patronizing, allowing Isabella to instantly realize just how many times he was asked this question. And boy, did Phineas notice this far too well; he wouldn't deny that he wanted her to regret asking him this. "It was a pain, but I lived," he said, "So, who cares? I don't see what the big deal is."

"The 'big deal' is that you actually survived being in DEI, more importantly in the presence of a blood-thirsty dictator," Isabella said, "Not many people can say that. Candace made it out, but that's because she's Candace. She's a flipping ninja. You aren't as skilled as she is, yet you made it out, unscathed, and most of all…unaffected."

Phineas blinked. "What do you mean 'unaffected'?" he asked.

"I mean," Isabella tried to find the right words as she motioned to the boy, "Look at you! You're so… _happy_. I don't think I've had the unsettling pleasure of someone who constantly has a grin plastered over his face physically or even mentally."

"Well…I'm not completely unaffected," Phineas admitted, "I mean, my experience with Doofenshmirtz was…interesting, let's say. It's changed my outlook on certain things, and I'm still trying to figure it out for myself."

Isabella chuckled. "Well, you're good at covering it up, then," she said, "Because you seem pretty optimistic to me."

Phineas started smiling again, and Isabella almost felt herself sigh irritably at this. "Well, I have to be," he said, "I mean, if I didn't try to look for that silver lining, I would've thrown myself off a building by now."

"I would imagine," Isabella said, "I mean…had I been in your position, I doubt they would've let me live for more than twenty-four hours, much less…"

"Seven months."

"Huh?"

"I've been at DEI for about seven months, give or take."

Isabella leaned back on her chair. "So…over half a year," she awed, "And you're fit as a fiddle…"

"Again, not a big deal," Phineas said with a hint of indignation, "I mean, it wasn't that...bah," he shook his head, "Let's just change the subject. I'm sick of people making such a fuss over what happened. I'm here now aren't I?"

"I guess it just shows that everyone's worried," Isabella said, "Some of us think that you've gone mad."

Phineas began to slump into his chair, sighing aggravatingly, more at himself than at Isabella or anyone else who had come to ask him about DEI. "Maybe I have, Isabella," he said, "Maybe I have…"

"Then shouldn't you try talking to someone about it?" Isabella asked.

"Believe me, I've tried," Phineas said, "Either they're too biased, too busy, or too creepy to give me any real advice…or…at least advice I'm willing to listen to..."

Isabella rolled her eyes. "Well, would you rather have someone lie to you about it?" she asked, "Give you an easy solution that'll only work for about five seconds before it screws you over?"

"I…guess you're right," Phineas said, "But there's something wrong with what everyone's saying to me. I don't think it's…at least a hundred percent right."

"Then try coming up with your own conclusion," Isabella said, "Whatever's eating at you is something you have to solve for yourself."

"But I don't think anyone will like the answer," Phineas admitted looking down at the table; it looked nice and simple, like the rest of the room, and nothing like the rest of the base. It felt homely.

"Who cares what they think?" Isabella asked, "What matters is that you do what you think is right."

Phineas looked back up at Isabella, and seemed to look directly into her eyes. None of the feeling he had grown for this girl had left him yet, and he smiled at this. Yes, he liked Isabella a lot. "Thanks," he said, "You're the first person I've talked to that's actually sort of helped me with this."

"It's nothing, really," Isabella shrugged her shoulders, "I'm just used to not caring what other people think of me."

"You mean unless they see you as a superstar?"

"Can it, smart aleck."

Isabella took another sip, not noticing Phineas frowning at her again. "Then why do you care about what Candace thinks?" he asked, "Clearly you put her on a high pedestal."

Isabella stopped mid-drink, and pulled the cup away, placing it back on her lap. "That's an entirely different matter," she said evenly, "I respect your sister, and I have to. There's nothing more than that."

"I guess," Phineas said, "But maybe you follow too close to her? I mean, I wouldn't know or anything, since I don't really speak to you all that much, but…I just get this vibe that you and the other Resistance members, save for Buford," Isabella snarled at the mention of the biggest of Phineas' new friends, "Follow my sister a little too much."

"Why do you say that?" Isabella asked curiously, "Do you…question her authority?"

Phineas shook his head. "I couldn't," he said, "She's my sister…so maybe that's why I'm weirded out by the whole thing? I dunno, it just…doesn't seem like the Candace I knew."

"Things change," Isabella sighed, "People change…that's what happens."

"…Yeah…"

Phineas smiled again after mulling over what had been said for a mere eleven seconds. He didn't notice Isabella flinch, nor did he not notice her looking at him funny. He thought it was cute. "How'd you meet my sister, anyway?" he asked, "I'm curious…you're second in command of the Resistance, right?"

"Yeah," Isabella nodded, "Hm…I warn you, it wasn't exactly a momentous occasion."

Phineas nodded in understanding. He'd heard enough tragic tales to be able to stomach it in by now. Isabella set down her tea onto the table. "I was five when I met your sister," Isabella recounted, "The Resistance had only just started to form then, and as far as I can remember it only had five other members aside from Candace and I."

Isabella folded her hands together onto her lap. "My mother was imprisoned months before for embezzling food to other survivors of the bombing," she went on, "I escaped with my dog…"

Phineas tilted his head. "And your dad…?"

Isabella shook her head. "I never knew him," she said, "My mom said that he ran out on us before I was born. He wasn't ready for the responsibility of handling an infant I suppose…I ended up meeting your sister after we had a run-in with some Norm-Bots. I escaped, obviously, but my dog… _Pinky_ …"

Phineas felt his eyes widen at the name and remembered the Cyborg Chihuahua; how he would always stick close to the moronic but well-meaning Peter the Pandaborg, how he'd bark at people for pissing him off…and hearing about his coma from a sobbing Peter, who only blamed himself. Phineas stared at Isabella, who for the first time looked genuinely heartbroken. This was Pinky's owner…Phineas looked at her sadly as he began to think about Perry and how he would feel if his pet had been turned into a ruthless Cyborg with no recollection of anything of its past.

Isabella sighed as a dark look came onto her face. "…He's with Doofenshmirtz now," she stated, "I won't let that stop me or any of the Resistance from reaching our goals. Candace saved my life that day, I owe her that much…"

Phineas bit his lip, mentally scolding himself for once again being too curious. That trait seemed to get him into a lot of trouble he noticed. Suddenly "curiosity killing the cat" made so much sense once he didn't take it literally…then again, how many cats did he manage to kill anyway? "I'm sorry," Phineas apologized, "I have a tendency to ask stupid questions."

Isabella lifted up her head and cracked a smile. "Eh, it's good," she shrugged, "I've moved on. Besides, my mom's fine, and who gives a crap about my dad?"

Isabella chuckled a little before a thought occurred to her. She looked at Phineas. "Um…just curious," she said, "But, uh, have you…met any of the Cyborgs?"

Phineas hesitated. He really didn't want to answer that question. "…Yes," he eventually said, "Why do you ask?"

Isabella opened her mouth, then shut it again immediately. "Nothing, nothing," she said, "Absolutely nothing. Ahem. So, I opened up about my life. Now tell me about yours. How'd you end up at DEI?"

Phineas sighed. "Alright, fair enough," he said with a nod, "I'll keep it nice and simple; my mom went insane after my sister left to come…here, I'd imagine. I assume everyone who's gone through the takeover or the bombings have had some sort of negative affect done to their psyche?"

"Basically," Isabella said, "My mom isn't doing much better herself, sadly. She's been traumatized; hasn't exactly told us what she saw at DEI herself…"

"Wait…did she escape, or-?"

Isabella shook her head. "They let her go," she said, "It was the strangest thing…" she shook her head again and looked back to Phineas, "You were saying?"

"Oh, right," Phineas scratched the back of his head and continued, "Well, after some time I was getting the feeling that my mom wanted to…uh…"

Phineas shuddered a bit, the nightmares involving his mother severing his head still on the back of his mind. Isabella sat there, confused at Phineas' sudden change of attitude. As soon as it came, though, it left, and Phineas stopped shivering. "…Anyway," he said, "She wanted to do…something…I'm not sure. She kept on singing death chants like they were birthday songs, so, I assumed the worst."

Isabella simply blinked, so Phineas didn't really know whether or not this story was making her uncomfortable or not. Phineas shrugged and said, "One day she got so violent that she threw me down into the basement and locked me up in there. Somehow Perry was there, too; now that I think about it, I bet he used one of his secret base entrances that he's been talking to me about. Makes sense now..."

Phineas decided to take another cookie from the plate, and shoved it into his mouth. He talked even with his mouth full, yet Isabella still felt her heart tighten at how eerily calm Phineas sounded as he recounted the story. As it turns out, Phineas never realized himself how his tone of voice made him seem at the moment.

"So, while I waited for my demise," Phineas said, "I decided to look through some stuff that I wasn't supposed to. You know, to cross off the bucket list as much as I possibly could at the time. And…well…" Phineas reached into his pocket, and took out the letter; when was the last time he looked at it now that he knew the truth? "I found this among…other things."

Isabella blinked before nodding in realization. "That's your father's note, right?" she asked.

Phineas froze. He eyed Isabella suspiciously. "How'd you know?" he asked.

"Candace told me about it," Isabella said, "How else?"

Phineas would've questioned how Candace knew about the letter, but then again that would explain why their old family photos had Doofenshmirtz cut out of them. It must've been Candace and Linda's doing, meaning that Candace knew about the letter. What Phineas was wondering was why did she leave the letter unscathed? Candace hated their father so much, she just wanted him out of mind completely; so why spare the letter?

"Anyways, you were saying?" Isabella asked, cutting into Phineas' thoughts.

Phineas nodded, putting the letter back in his pocket. "After I found the letter," he said, "I decided to go and look for him. It was better than sticking around and see what mom was planning to do with me, anyway. So I managed to unhinge the doors with my dad's old tools, snuck into my room for supplies, and left with Perry."

"No one's allowed to leave their houses without the proper paperwork," Isabella said, "So how'd you get passed your mother?"

"I dunno," Phineas shrugged, "I didn't see her before I left. I think she was sleeping on the couch…I wonder how she's doing…"

"You're wondering how she's doing after she tried to kill you?"

"You'd be surprised how much I've been thinking about her during all of this. Especially now…"

Isabella leaned to the side. Phineas expected her to go further into talking about his father. Instead, she asked him, "What do you think of Monogram?"

That subject change caught him completely off-guard. "What?"

"Monogram is Doofenshmirtz's worst enemy," Isabella excused, "So…I couldn't help but have that come to mind."

Phineas stared at Isabella as he realized the question was intentional. He smirked knowingly. "Why do you ask?"

"I dunno," Isabella admitted, "I saw you talking to him once. He's…eccentric. A lot of the members of the Resistance find him off-putting, including me, but Candace seems to put a lot of faith in him. I want to know your opinion on him."

Phineas blinked. "If I tell you the truth," he said, "Do me a favor and don't tell Candace. I'd rather spare her of any agony."

Isabella chuckled, noting Phineas' obvious distaste. "Honey, what's said in this room doesn't leave this room," she said, "Not everyone has a positive output on the guy. Heck, everyone's talked to him at least once, and it was awkward at best and terrifying at most."

"Really?"

"Absolutely. So, what was your first encounter with ye ole' Monobrow like?"

Phineas and Isabella snorted a little at the nickname that Phineas knew had originated from DEI and seemed to carry on to other places. Suddenly, Phineas frowned. "He tried to kill me with an Amnesia-inator, sent out mutants at me and my friends, and flipping sent my own brother to blow up a building I was currently residing in," he stated flatly, "I ain't putting him on that high of a pedestal."

Isabella was taken aback. "Whoa," she said, "Okay, I know he's creepy, but I didn't know he was crazy."

"Yeeeaaaah, not the best time of my life," Phineas smiled, "But again, I lived. So as I've put before-."

"Not a big deal," Phineas and Isabella said in unison.

Isabella proceeded to rub her chin quizzically. "But…who were your friends at DEI?" she asked, "I could've sworn you were their only child prisoner…unless you befriended the others…hm…you know what, forget I asked."

Phineas could not thank the heavens more than now. Isabella, oblivious to Phineas' relief, checked her wrist watch, and smirked. "Well, I better be going," she hopped off the chair and started making her leave, "The Firestorm Girls are probably wondering where I am. We were supposed to start training a few minutes ago."

Isabella flashed Phineas a smile. "It was nice chatting with you," she said.

Phineas nodded with a grin more optimistic than hers; and it _still bothered her._ "Nice talking to you too," he said, "I hope we do it again sometime."

Isabella nodded and walked out of the room. As soon as she was out of Phineas' sight of range, she sprinted, her smile turning into an uncomfortable frown. As soon as she reached the other Firestorm Girls to start their training, many of her friends asked her if she was alright. Isabella brushed their worries off, and did what she had done many times before.

In spite her fleeting Isabella decided, along with Phineas, that yes, they should talk more.

 **(~)**

"But Mr. Flufflebutt, I need the change…my horsie won't last much longer…"

"The treasure be mine you…scurvy…little…"

"I neeeeeed it…pleeeeaaaaase…"

"Ugh, stop chewing on me…by order of the captain…"

"Mm…Mr. Flufflebutt, you're soft…"

"…You are too…"

An awkward pause filled the air. Both sounded a, "Wait a minute" before their eyes shot open. The morning light shined through the windows of the vehicle they were currently taking refuge in. After enough inspecting, the smell of bug pheromones filled their nostrils, making them cringe and seek whatever would cover their noses. They happened to choose the object that they deemed the softest.

They paused again, before they stared at each other blankly. Doofenshmirtz and Schnitzel were currently lying on the backseat of the vehicle, clinging to each other. Schnitzel's face turned a dark shade of red while Doofenshmirtz's paled in horror.

A long uncomfortable silence filled the room as they continued to stare at each other. Eventually, Doofenshmirtz let out a loud shriek that was equally loud as Schnitzel's. He, on the other hand, grabbed Schnitzel by the collar, making her scream even more in terror.

"SCHNITZEL, GET OFF OF ME!"

 _Pow!_

 _Smack!_

 _Thrash!_

"AAAAAH!"

 _Thud!_

Schnitzel groaned as she laid face first on the ground after being flung from the vehicle. Doofenshmirtz climbed out, clapping dust from his hands as he looked to glare at Schnitzel for coming into his personal space. Schnitzel turned to him, also glaring. "What the hell, Heinz?!" she shouted, "I'm still injured, you asshole!"

"You can walk," Doofenshmirtz shot back, "So it's not that bad."

Schnitzel pushed herself back to her feet, trying to brush off the dirt while Doofenshmirtz examined the small ship, opening the door to the driver's seat. The dictator's rage turned off as he grinned. "Well, look at that," he said, "It's got a full tank! We can finally get outta here!"

"Good, that's always good," Schnitzel grumbled, "Unless that'll involve beating me up too," she glared at the back of Doofenshmirtz's head, "Though I doubt you'd do that to you chauffeur."

The dictator looked at Schnitzel like she was being ridiculous. "Uh-uh, I ain't letting you drive," Doofenshmirtz glared, "You sent my blimp into the ground."

Schnitzel felt her left eye twitch uncontrollably before she extended her arms out exasperatedly. "You blew it up!" she yelled.

Doofenshmirtz shook his head. "It wouldn't have been if you were a better driver," he insisted.

"That has NOTHING to do with why you blew it up!" Schnitzel said.

"Details, details," Doofenshmirtz said, walking towards the said wreckage, "Let's just get started so we can get my son and go home."

Schnitzel was confused as Doofenshmirtz went over to the opposite direction of the vehicle. She frowned further. "What are you doing?" she asked, "Don't we have to get out of here?"

"Yes, but I never got a chance to see if there's anything salvageable in the blimp's remains," Doofenshmirtz said, "I just want to give a quick look around to see if there's anything useful here."

Schnitzel sighed and proceeded to follow Doofenshmirtz. "Alright, if you say-," Doofenshmirtz turned around and effectively stopped her from proceeding; she looked confused, "-so?"

"You stay here in the ship," Doofenshmirtz ordered, "If the pheromones wear off, guard it with your life."

"Seriously? You've demoted me to guard dog?"

"Please, would you rather be a punching bag or a guard dog, Alice?"

"Quit calling me that."

"You've been letting me for a while, Alice," Doofenshmirtz said ignoring her, "You're only complaining now because I _hurt your little feelings_."

Schnitzel glared as Doofenshmirtz proceeded to mock her with baby talk. She growled, wanting to make a comeback before Doofenshmirtz turned around back to the wreckage. Schnitzel wanted to scream in anger but instead turned around and headed to the ship. She opened the door to the passenger seat, sat down, and shut the door. She crossed her arms and scrunched down like a whining child who didn't get what he wanted at a department store.

"Grr…stupid Heinz…" she groused, "Stupid, stupid…Doofus and his little…grr…"

Schnitzel looked at her reflection in the rearview mirror, mumbling something. Through the mirror she saw the backseat, and her look softened from annoyance to disappointment. "…It felt nice," she admitted to herself, "He even thought so…until he realized it was me…"

Schnitzel laid her head back, looking up sadly. "I'm pathetic," she said to herself, "Why do I still think that…there's a chance?" _Why do I even like that dirty bastard anyway?_

Even with those thoughts, though, Schnitzel wondered why _wouldn't_ she like that dirty bastard? Oh god, she was such a masochist, wasn't she? Schnitzel pulled her legs to her chest and laid her chin onto her knees. She let out a whine, almost as if she was going to cry.

"This is the worst," Schnitzel said, "I mean…seriously…I couldn't even enjoy that moment…he was so soft…wow…I'm a pervert."

Schnitzel sighed as she rubbed her face. "I bet there's a camera in here," she said, "And Doofenshmirtz is watching me from the wreckage, and is laughing at me for being so weird…"

" _Aw, don't say that~."_

"But it's the truth…I'm weird…I'm pathetic…I…I…wait…"

Schnitzel blinked as she looked around the "car" in shock and confusion. "Who said that?"

Not getting another response, Schnitzel shrugged it off. "I'm hearing things," she said, "Oh well…it happens…" _I'm losing my mind, I'm losing my mind, I'm losing my-_

" _Oh, I'm sorry, I zoned out a bit. What were you saying~?"_

"…Alright, brain, you've got me," Schnitzel chuckled in irritation, "You can knock it off already."

" _Hm…no. I don't feel like it~."_

Schnitzel was shocked to say the least. Not that she was having an argument with her brain; that happened a lot more than you know. It was the fact that her brain suddenly acted so nonchalant and sounded nothing like Doofenshmirtz's voice. Why did she usually view her brain's voice as Doofenshmirtz's anyway?

"You can't tell me what to do!" Schnitzel stated, "You're _my_ brain, so _I_ give the orders!"

" _I'm sorry, but, I really don't feel like it~."_

Somehow, the politeness, or the attempt of being so, in the voice made Schnitzel even more pissed off.

"WHY THE HELL NOT?!"

With that, a large glow filled the vehicle, blinding Schnitzel as a small, tiny presence filled the room. Schnitzel braced herself as she thought "what the HELL is going on?!" while also wondering if she was going to die. The light eventually dimmed down.

" _Sorry about that. You know me, I love making big entrances~."_

Schnitzel stared at the tiny being before her. She was very small, the size of an insect, but was very much human; or as human as one would be with strangely shaped butterfly wings. Now that she thought about it, the creature looked very reminiscent to a Tinkerbell type of character, if she had long dirty blonde hair, a dark purple dress the covered her knees and bigger wings. Schnitzel rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things, and the moment the fairy started to dim out of view only to flash back into existence made her sure that, yes, she was definitely seeing things. But she also couldn't control exactly _what_ she was seeing at the moment, and she couldn't explain _why_ this thing looked so familiar.

All she could do was stare at the creature, who was smiling a big, giddy smile at her that was freaking Schnitzel out further.

"…What the fu-?"

" _Hello,"_ the fairy curtsied in the air, _"I'm_ _ **Madison**_ _, your magical guide to romance~!"_

The fairy, Madison, gave Schnitzel a wink that caused some "fairy dust" to sprinkle off, though it was hard to tell given how tiny she was. Schnitzel stared at Madison before she started to look away in thought. Schnitzel let out yet another sigh, her eyes widened, though her voice sounded completely monotone.

"Aaaand with that my descent to madness has begun…"

Madison smiled brightly at Schnitzel.

 **A/N:**

"THERE!" Galaxina-the-Seedrian shouted in woodland59's face, "She's in! Are you happy now?!"

"Very much," woodland59 nodded before once again disappearing out of nowhere.

Galaxina-the-Seedrian sighed, once again very alone and still questioning her sanity...

… **Okay, okay, I'll knock it off. XD**

 **This chapter was fun to write, although I think I made Phineas and Isabella's conversation a little too awkward at some points. That and, is it me, or do they seem a bit too comfortable talking about themselves to each other? Maybe it's on account that I'm open to talking to ANYONE about my feelings if I happen to know their names (even if it's nothing else), but even I know that's kinda weird.**

 **And no, Isabella does not have a crush on Phineas; Phineas has a crush on HER. She just likes him for reasons she doesn't understand. In fact, Phineas' smile isn't charming to her; it freaks her out how optimistic he is in light of the situation.**

 **Now, on the topic of Madison…again, I** _ **asked**_ **if I could use her. So the rule still stands; do** _ **not**_ **ask me if I can put your OC in this fic. Please. She's not even going to be a main character, given that she's in Schnitzel's head. And don't worry, this isn't turning into a fantasy; let's make this clear, she's not real. I mean, less real than this AU and the fictional characters in it.**

 **Also, as horrible as Doofenshmirtz is, I still love him in this. I really do. XD I've come to see him as "the lovable asshole". You'll see it eventually.**

 **Alt. Doof:** _Naaah, I'm just an asshole. ;)_

 **Alt. Schnitz:** _I hate you so much…_

 **Alt. Phin/Madison:** _No you don't~!_

 **Alt. Schnitz:** _-_-_

 **Well, I hope you all enjoyed! Have a pleasant day, and please review, follow, fave, and stuff!**

 **-GTS**


	15. Chapter 14

**It's come to my attention that I tend to complicate things more than I need to. No need to elaborate; just throwing that out there…**

 **ALSO, I got to talk to my bestest friend foreverest,** _LoveyLoo_ **, after a while, so that's good. ^^ Oh, and, uh, just throwing it out there WE FINALLY SKYPED EACH OTHER AND I'M SO DARN HAPPY OMGOMGOMG!**

 _"Phineas and Ferb"_ **are owned by** _Dan Povenmire_ **and** _Jeff "Swampy" Marsh_ **who both work for** _Disney(c)_ **(** _ **LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!**_ **)**

 **Marissa Flynn owns Marissa**

 **woodland59 owns Madison**

 **And I own literally everything else this story has to offer (that is to say, Dr. Alice Schnitzel, Applejack, Danni, and other OCs and material)**

 **Enjoy~!**

 **P/F/P/F**

 **(~)**

The tension settled in the room like a tightened lung, uncomfortable and hard to breath. Perhaps it was embellished more than it needed to be, but it was still left a rather foreboding feel in the air as Perry and Applejack waited for a response from Candace. When she had called for them that morning, the tone of her voice barely differed from her usual serious tone, but the urgency was definitely there. Whatever she had planned for them was in fact very important. It usually was, whether it would be grave-robbing for whatever reason (Applejack said it was for Monogram, but he said it so flippantly that he wasn't sure if he could take him seriously), or a mission regarding a LOVEMUFFIN member.

This was a mission almost completely different from the rest. Sure, Perry had heard about such a mission before in OWCA, as certain agents would be assigned to such tasks depending on the enemies they had to face. Who knew that the government took them so wholeheartedly, at least at the time? Perry was certain that if Doofenshmirtz was ever truly defeated that OWCA would never be trusted again. The whole company would be in shambles, bankrupt…

Perry felt Applejack nudge him, and the platypus looked to see a reassuring smile on the pygmy goat's face. It was more of a smirk, but it was friendly nonetheless, the friendliest gesture that Applejack had given anyone as far as Perry had seen. It was strange, because Applejack was so annoying, so dislikable, and the goat himself seemed completely aware of just how despicable he truly was. But for whatever reason it seemed to calm Perry out of his thoughts. He and his partner looked back to Candace as she went on to explaining.

"…a blimp was spotted a few days ago recently," Candace said, "It was crashed in the forest outside our boarders. We're a hundred percent positive that it was Doofenshmirtz's, meaning that he's already on the move."

Applejack let out a small snort, leaned over to Perry, and muttered, " _My god, he's desperate…never expected that from him._ "

Perry was honestly confused with Applejack's amiable mannerisms, especially after last night's conversation, but he decided he'd ask about that later. They both placed their focus back on Candace. "We doubt that Doofenshmirtz died," Candace went on, "We're not even sure if he was even on the blimp. Whatever the case, this either means that Doofenshmirtz sent someone out in his stead and is too vulnerable to attack, or he left DEI completely defenseless."

Perry and Applejack both raised eyebrows. Were they seriously being sent back to DEI? Applejack's reaction was more bored than Perry's, since his was more confused at the repetitiveness of the idea. Yet Candace continued.

"As a result, we're sending a small patch of our soldiers and Monogram's men to try and take DEI down again," Candace said, "Along with the Robot Factories. We need to go and rescue any of the prisoners and slaves that Doofenshmirtz might have there."

"What about us?" Perry asked with the translator collar on his neck once again.

" _Yeah, what do we have to do with this?_ " Applejack asked, knowing he wouldn't be understood, but equally confused all the same, " _I dunno about Perry here, but it's only been, like, a month since we got back home. I ain't wasting more time on taking down a castle that might get rebuilt again anyway._ "

Candace stared at Applejack for a moment and rolled her eyes, looking back to Perry. "You're not going with the group," she said, "It wouldn't be necessary, anyway. We have a different task for you two. We've made another ally recently, a member of LOVEMUFFIN formerly. I want you two to meet up with him in case he's found anything…" she almost smirked, "Or…anyone…and pray that he did."

Perry raised an eyebrow. "I know LOVEMUFFIN," he said, "They're filled with evil, deceitful scumbags, who want nothing more than to be feared. They're practically the embodiment of Doofenshmirtz himself…"

"… _if it wasn't for the fact that he scares them much more than they are for anyone else on the planet,_ " Applejack grunted, going from a sitting position that was more akin to a dog, to a lying position.

"How do we know we can trust him?" Perry finished, crossing his arms.

Candace nodded. "We're aware that the members of LOVEMUFFIN, former member or not, are still viable to backstabbing," she admitted, "But given our numbers…given Monogram's own knowledge of them…it's worth the risk. Furthermore, he happens to be one of the members who seem to keep tabs with Doofenshmirtz anyway."

Applejack whispered something in Perry's ear as the Resistance leader spoke, not bothering to hide any motivation of interrupting her. Perry nodded at whatever Applejack said and had the nerve to translate. Candace felt her teeth grit, wondering why, why, _why was Perry being so naïve about that stupid goat?!_ Currently, Applejack was just staring at her, but still…still…he _knew_.

"What about Poofenplotz?" Perry asked, "We already got what we needed from her, didn't we?"

"This isn't about the project," Candace said, "This is about Doofenshmirtz or any ally he might have that could be wandering around in the forest. The forest he happens to have his city built in. We don't want Doofenshmirtz to…do anything rash."

Perry and Applejack knew exactly what Candace meant by that. Doofenshmirtz destroying the headquarters of the Resistance wouldn't exactly do much for morale of those he had worked hard to oppress. Then again, that wouldn't be what (or who) he was after, now would it? They knew that all too well.

It was settle then and there that they wouldn't let that happen, Perry more than anyone else. He practically _just_ got Phineas back, and he wasn't about to lose him again, not that that was even possible. Knowing Candace, she probably had ways of protecting Phineas if it came down to it. Perry only hoped and prayed that this was so.

"Alright," Perry nodded in understanding, "Then tell us…who is this other ally?"

 **(~)**

Madison was an interesting creation of Schnitzel's mind to say the least. She vaguely even remembered her or how she came into creation. The only thing Schnitzel knew was that she was just there in the far depths of her subconscious. She'd be lying if she claimed that Madison never once came into her mind.

Schnitzel sighed and let out a small laugh. Madison politely tilted her head in confusion. "Yep, totally insane," Schnitzel told herself, "This is where my obsession with a selfish, insane, sadistic dictator has gotten me, eh? I have finally reached rock bottom."

Madison's cheeks seemed to puff up in anger as her see-through wings batted friskily. _"How dare you~!"_ he figment snarled, _"I am not a sign of insanity, you ungrateful pulp~!"_

Madison proceeded to send a small, pain sting through a zap of electricity aimed directly towards Schnitzel's forehead. The doctor squeaked in pain and was knocked back onto the back of her chair before she went to grab the annoying fairy creature, who zipped out of range. Madison haughtily motioned to herself as she gracefully landed on Schnitzel's closed fists, viewing herself as some form of royalty Schnitzel assumed with an annoyed stare. _"I am here to help you~,"_ the fairy started singing, _"Help your dreams come true~."_

"Oh god, don't you dare break into song," Schnitzel face-palmed, "Who even does that?!"

" _I am the goddess of love, a helpful hand from above~,"_ Madison floated over and patted Schnitzel on her head, _"Above that is that place under your ugly hat~."_

Schnitzel glared even harder. "This isn't a hat this is my hair, assho-!" Madison placed a finger on Schnitzel's lips to shut her up. Schnitzel had the sudden urge to bite the tiny creature's arm off.

" _Please no swearing, stop that glaring~"_

" _Look on the bright side of the spectrum~"_

" _Hearts are beating, why keep retreating~?"_

" _Why so scared, it's such a bore to be glum~"_

Schnitzel rolled her eyes. Yup, they were seriously going there. This thing was literally breaking into a musical number. She truly had lost her mind. "It's a thing called anxiety," she stated flatly, "Maybe look it up sometime, Pixie?"

Madison proceeded to twirl up into the air as music blasted into the atmosphere, and a wave of color that would usually make someone, including Schnitzel, want to rip their eyes out started to sparkle down in the most childish of fashions. Schnitzel stared in pure horror that matched the expression of a parent who had taken their child to one of those shows where their favorite cartoon was being played by a living being in a giant, otherwise horrific looking suit. It made her think what could've possibly happened in her childhood that caused her to come up with these images in the first place.

" _I'm your magical guide to romance~"_

" _So c'mon and give me a chance~"_

" _I'll help your dreams come true~"_

" _I know just what to do~"_

" _I'm your magical gui-!"_

"STOP!"

Schnitzel blocked her ears and shook her head, screaming, "No, no, no, no, no!" over and over and over again, grabbing Madison's attention. Schnitzel glowered hatefully at Madison. "Just…stop," she growled, "I swear, that was the WORST thing I've ever heard!"

Madison frowned, her bottom lip quivering as if she was going to cry. Schnitzel felt the same way, honestly, but for different reasons. _"But…but you wrote it for me,"_ she said, her voice not singing everything like she had before, _"I'm a figment…so you made that song up…the moment I…sniff…do you not like me?"_

Schnitzel stared at the fairy as Madison burst into tears. The doctor gave a "No shit, Sherlock" kind of look as Madison began to bawl like a four-year-old. Everything about this character reminded her of all the worst parts of her childhood. Yet like any adult who would dare make a child cry, a wave of disgust filled her and she gave into her guilt. "I'm sorry," she reluctantly said, "I didn't mean to come across as rude. I've just been dealing with enough stu-," Madison's bottom lip quivered again and Schnitzel flinched, "-uh…stress…I was going with stress."

Madison stopped and suddenly flashed a bright smile as her peppy voice regained itself. _"Oh, Ally, you can't lie to me~,"_ she said (with Schnitzel now having found a name more cringe-worthy than "Alice") _"We share the same mind! I know what you thinking. It's okay~."_

Madison hummed as Schnitzel had yet another urge to crush the little, tiny human-fly with her bare hands. She sighed though as she knew in her heart that it wouldn't resolve anything. She leaned against the head of her chair and stared at Madison, who wore an innocent smile (too innocent). "What do you want?" Schnitzel sighed, "You said something about my love life, right?"

" _Correct~,"_ Madison smiled brightly as she curtly nodded.

Schnitzel shook her head. "And how are you supposed to help me?" she asked, "Why are you even here? Why now? I've been enamored with that ass-hat since we were kids."

Madison sat on the steering mechanism of the ship, crossing her legs and folding her hands together. _"Well, though I hate to admit it, you have indeed reached the breaking point,"_ she said, _"You've lost your marbles completely, allowing for illusions to settle into your brain,"_ she turned away and giggled excitedly, " _Just like Heinz~!"_

Schnitzel bit down in surprise. "Wait, wha-?"

" _Not important,"_ Madison twirled back around to face Schnitzel, flying to a range closer, _"I'm sure he'll talk to you about it when he's ready~."_

Schnitzel stared at Madison as she thought about Doofenshmirtz dodging her questions while they were dealing with the mutants at DEI, slowing giving an unamused glare as Madison cleared her throat. _"Back to the point,"_ the fairy said, _"Like I said, I'm here to help you! Apparently in this dimensional plane the human brain has a function that allows itself to at least try to find a way back to saneness, hence the illusions such as me. Of course, I do ever so wonder why I never showed up before, I mean, we've talked plenty a times…of course…you imagined me with Doofenshmirtz's voice…huh…"_

"Ah, so that was you insulting me," Schnitzel nodded, "You do realize that I hate you even more now, right?"

Madison simply laughed. _"Oh, silly,"_ she giggled, _"I know you're upset, but don't allow yourself to be so glum. We will have your prince charming in no time~!"_

Schnitzel rubbed her temples. "Heinz is a lot of things and 'prince charming' ain't one of 'em," she said.

" _To a normal person that would be true,"_ Madison stated, _"But to you,"_ she turned away again, squishing her face to purposely look adorable, " _tee-hee~."_

Schnitzel never found herself feeling more annoyed in her life. Was this how Doofenshmirtz felt when they were children, with him having to deal with her annoying antics all the time? "Look, as much as I would appreciate the help," Schnitzel added 'and I really, really would appreciate that for serious' under her breath before continuing, "Unfortunately, Heinz and I are kinda more preoccupied with trying to find Phineas."

Madison pouted. _"Aw, c'mon Ally_ ("Please stop calling me A-."), _this is the perfect opportunity~!"_ she said as she spread her arms out exasperatedly, allowing more fairy dust to flutter down.

Schnitzel glanced one way and then another, crossing her arms. "You mean to tell me that your version of a romantic setting is being stranded in a forest that's made up of living killer plants?" she asked, "Are you sure you're from my brain, because I could've sworn I had a better vision than this."

" _Oh, yes, I know,"_ Madison nodded furiously, _"You imagined that Charlene was pushed off of a cliff to be eaten by squids who can't really digest humans and that Heinz proclaimed his love for you by a raging ocean wave that was deflected by the powers of love and that you got married had three children and-."_

"Ok, ok, I get it!" Schnitzel shrieked; she shuddered, "I…I never thought my inner romance was so disturbing until hearing it out loud…"

Madison blinked, still smiling. _"I don't quite understand why you stopped me at the children thing and not pushing his dead wife off of a cliff, but okay,"_ she sat down on the dashboard of the vehicle, hugging her knees, _"So, excluding about half of your fantasies, because if Heinz ever heard you saying that about Charlene-."_

"-He'd kill me slowly and painfully," Schnitzel whimpered, "I feel horrible for even thinking that about her! We went to the same college for God's sake!"

As Schnitzel screamed into her hands, Madison went on unfazed. _"I propose that we plan a much saner setting,"_ the figment said, _"We'll go with the best cliché in the book: accidentally knocking into him and staring into his eyes…err…eye…until love sparks BURST FORTH ON AN OPEN FIRE~!"_

Madison clapped her hands together only for Schnitzel to shake her head. "He'll just push me off like he did when we were lying together," she said, "Only he'll probably be even more violent and knowing him he'll immediate figure out that I did it on purpose."

" _Good point, good point,"_ Madison nodded in a thinking pose, _"Hm…ah, how about this: you find some rabid monkeys to chase you through the forest and have your man rescue you via vine swinging~!"_

Madison repeated her last self-congratulatory clap, but Schnitzel glared once again. "He's a frigging scientist, not Tarzan!" she yelled, "And let's be real here, even if that were to happen, it wouldn't be because I planned it."

Madison stared at Schnitzel flatly. _"Well, you're not making this easy,"_ she said, _"How am I to help you with your love life if you won't even give any of my ideas a chance~?"_

"Because your ideas are stupid," Schnitzel paused and pointed at Madison with a look meant to shame the figment, "And coming from me is humiliating in of itself!"

Madison giggled before smirking lightly. _"Well…that doesn't sound too bad,"_ she said, _"These are_ _ **your**_ _ideas after all~."_

Schnitzel felt her jaw dropping at the brief dark grin on Madison's face before it was replaced with a quirky grin. _"Now let's try this again,"_ she said, _"Now, how about-"_

Before Madison could finish her thought, she randomly disappeared as an irritated looking Doofenshmirtz entered the vehicle, grumbling something to himself. Schnitzel watched as the dictator proceeded to start up the ship with a small, tiny frown as she mentally prayed that she never say the tiny fairy again. "Uh…" Schnitzel scratched her ear, "Wanna talk about-?"

"I didn't find anything if that's what you're wondering," Doofenshmirtz sighed, "Let's just find my son and end this accursed nightmare."

Schnitzel simply nodded. "Agreed," she said as she began to buckle herself into her seat, "So, tell me Heinz, what is our rescue plan? We break in, kill everyone who gets in our way, and get out?"

Doofenshmirtz gave a light smirk. "Close, but no cigar," he said, slowly frowning, "Actually…it's…gonna be a little more complicated than that…"

"What do you mean?"

Doofenshmirtz decided to ignore Schnitzel's concerned tone. It wasn't like he never noticed her worry before, but for whatever reason it seemed to bother him now, probably because of what they had just done apparently last night. "Phineas is my main priority," he said, "And I will be _damned_ if I don't get him back safe and sound…but…I'd be lying if I said I wasn't doing this for another reason. The truth is, I probably would've gone out there anyway."

Schnitzel smirked. "To take down the Resistance, am I right?"

When Doofenshmirtz flinched, Schnitzel felt a tight squeeze in her gut. Like she dealt a small blow to her superior that seemed to bounce off. Doofenshmirtz sighed. "…No…I couldn't do that now…" he admitted.

Schnitzel tilted her head, patiently staring at Doofenshmirtz. The ship began to rise up, and Doofenshmirtz took a moment to focus on guiding the ship over the trees before continuing. "…You know Candace well enough," he said, "You know that since Phineas is my child, that…she…"

Schnitzel let out a small gasp and covered her mouth. "Oh my god," she said, "She's your daughter then, isn't she?"

Doofenshmirtz didn't give an answer. Schnitzel was smart enough to put two and two together at least, so he really didn't need to. She bit her lip as Doofenshmirtz looked forward into the air. "What are you gonna do?" Schnitzel asked.

"Talk to her," Doofenshmirtz said, "That's…honestly all I can think of at this point…"

"And you don't think she'll attack you in merciless anger?" Schnitzel asked with a dispassionate stare.

Doofenshmirtz rolled his eye. "I'm expecting that," he said, "I'm merely hoping that she'll listen for at least a moment…heh…though it's probably no use. Now I know why going up against me was so important to her. I always thought even she seemed a bit…obsessed with taking me down."

Schnitzel let out a mirthless chuckle. "You mean she's obsessed with 'busting' you," she smirked, "Honestly, who says that anymore?"

Doofenshmirtz shrugged his shoulders. Schnitzel tilted her head to the side. "You think she knows?" she said that sounded more like an answer than a question.

"Most likely," Doofenshmirtz said, "Definitely, one hundred percent sure. And I…I'm…not sure how I feel about that, or…what to think even."

"Do you think she knew that you'd forgotten about that little detail?" Schnitzel asked, "You know, it begs the question, why did you even try to forget your own children anyway?"

Doofenshmirtz refuse to answer any more of her questions, but didn't hide the obvious subject change. "When we arrive, I want you to find Phineas," he said, "The Resistance is after me. They barely know who you are. They'll probably ignore you if we're lucky enough."

Schnitzel shook her head tensely. "You're so reckless," she said, "How is it that I get myself into more trouble than you do?"

"Because you're an idiot who can barely tie her shoes," Doofenshmirtz stated calmly with a derisive simper.

Schnitzel flinched. "Oh, now, that's just cold man," she pouted, crossing her arms and sticking out her tongue, "That's just…man."

Doofenshmirtz snickered at his companion's response. Schnitzel turned away with an angry pout, noting that Madison was floating in the corner of her eye before she suddenly disappeared again. Wait…Schnitzel squinted. Did she just make kissing faces at her?

"That little…"

"Hm?"

"Oh. I-it's nothing. And keep your eyes on the road."

"There is no road, we're flying."

"Well, keep your eyes ahead anyway! I've already crashed once this week, I ain't doing that twice."

"You just will not let that go, will ya…?"

 **(~)**

"Can you _blame me?_ Buford, I swear, you will be the death of me one day!"

"Chill, 'Jeet, you're overreactin'."

"No, really, you nearly killed me with that stunt, you psychopathic brute."

"Uh…y-yeah…you did kinda…go too far…uh…I'll…I'll shut up now, he-he…(don't hurt me)…"

Initially, as Phineas had decided that he'd return to his room to collect his thoughts or perhaps even find more places in the Resistance base for him to discover (like the adventurous, naïve, extremely bored dolt that he was), he of course noticed the conversation between his friends and Baljeet (Just kidding! Baljeet _is his friend…_ _ **hehe…**_ **heh** ). At first Phineas wanted to simply find another way around the base, seeing as it looked like Buford and Baljeet were going to have another awkward argument with each other. Yet those arguments, and rather literally everything else that was left in the dark for him, intrigued him in some way, so Phineas dared to join in their conversation. To his surprise, he was immediately welcomed.

"Hey, Phineas," Irving piped up, waving to him shyly, "H-how'd you sleep? We-we didn't s-see you at breakfast…"

Phineas blinked and then realized that he needed an alibi and…oh wait, he did! Thank you, Lord, for thy mercy! "I overslept," Phineas shrugged, "And I met up with Isabella earlier anyway."

Buford glowered at this response. At least he wasn't fighting with Baljeet anymore. "Augh, please, say no more," he growled, rubbing his temples, "She's been on my tail since that fight we had."

"Because of the punishment I suppose," Baljeet smirked (and in Phineas' thoughts he screamed 'damn you' to the nerdy child), "She blames you for everything, Buford, it is fact…although, to be fair, you could have taken the mature route and _not_ caused a scene. It is always the same with her, she always wants to toy with you so that you can cause a fight that we all know she's gonna-."

Buford roughly turned to Baljeet, sticking his face into the nerd's, immediately shutting the smaller boy up. Baljeet took a small step back cooperatively, earning a nod from Buford. Phineas couldn't stop himself from letting out a sigh, nor could Irving. They glanced at each other and gave light smiles. That's when Phineas noticed that Django was nowhere to be found.

"Uh…I thought you guys would be hanging out with Django," Phineas said, "Is he on a mission, or something?"

Baljeet sighed in response. "Something," he answered, "It's just another cardiac arrest, nothing more."

Phineas stared blankly, earning a small chuckle from Buford. The fat child shook his head and nudged Baljeet. "Uh, 'Jeet," he snorted, "I don't think he gets it. He's new, remember?"

For the first time, Baljeet actually _smiled_ at Buford, about _this of all things!_ _ **What the actual hell?!**_ "Ah, yes," he nodded, "I apologize, I should probably explain further-."

"-Dude, he got a heart attack?!" Phineas shrieked, cutting Baljeet off as soon as his brain processed what he had been told, "That's terrible!"

Baljeet had the audacity to shake his head casually. "Not with _my_ technology," he stated with _such_ humility, "I have found a way to cure heart attacks a long time ago."

"A long time ago," Buford snickered, "More like two years ago."

"Yes, well…"

Phineas shook his head. "Dude, how?" he frowned, "Schnitzel's been at that for years…"

Phineas looked over to his friends as he realized what he said. Baljeet's stare cut right through him, while Buford and Irving glanced at each other in confusion. "Uh…who?" Irving tilted his head.

Phineas shrugged. "Just some weird prisoner at DEI," he said without losing a beat, "She was da...uh…Doofenshmirtz's punching bag…then again, she's everyone's punching bag. But, she's also a medic, heh, she's been…trying to find cures for…stuff."

Baljeet continued to carefully stare Phineas down while Buford and Irving seemed to buy everything Phineas was saying. It wasn't like he was even lying completely anyway, and it showed as Baljeet seemed to loosen up after a bit. He seemed that way anyway.

Phineas didn't like being stared at. It was uncomfortable.

"A-anyway," Phineas cleared his throat, "I was just…surprised that you beat her to it." _Oh boy, she's gonna be so pissed off when I tell her! HAH!_ "I'm glad that Django's okay, though," Phineas frowned, "he is alright, right?"

"Of course he is!" Baljeet glared, "He is just recovering. Candace does not want us to bother him in the state he is in."

"He really should stop it," Irving murmured, eyes drawn to him; the moment that he realized they were looking, he coughed and immediately shut himself up.

"Wait…where is Django then?" Phineas tilted his head, "I don't think I've seen a medical room…"

"It was the room you were resting in when you were first brought here," Baljeet explained, "It is a lot larger than you realize. You were in only one part of the area."

Phineas nodded. "Okay…" he said, "So, uh…what exactly are you doing?"

Buford grinned while Baljeet and Irving seemed to flinch. The larger boy proceeded to place his arms around his friends' shoulders as if to subtly keep them from fleeing his wrath, as he craned towards Phineas. "Well, I was thinkin' 'bout getting some payback on Isabella," he explained, "But Baljeet here said that my plan was…uh…"

"Doltish!" Baljeet growled, making Irving shrink back.

"Whatever," Buford released his grip on Baljeet and Irving as he shrugged, "You're still gonna help me, back-breaking or none!"

"Wait, so…let me get this straight," Phineas scratched his head, "You want payback on Isabella for humiliating you?"

Buford nodded with a smile. Phineas winced. "And…you want them to help you?" he asked further, earning another nod, "And you're doing this, knowing Isabella's training, and the fact that the Firestorm Girls, who are also equally trained, outnumber the three of you?"

Buford pounded a fist into his open hand. "Three boys against six wimpy girls ain't no problem," he stated.

"There are _seven,_ Buford," Baljeet sighed.

Buford glared. "Whatever, plus one!" he growled, "My god, Baljeet, you're such a nerd!"

Phineas blinked. "Okay…this doesn't _have_ to involve me, right?" he asked as he prepared to leave before Buford grabbed him.

"Thank you very much for your willing participation," Buford said as he proceeded to grab all three of his friends and carried them under his arms like luggage off to who knows where, "You can be our Django for the day! I've got some joints somewhere…"

Phineas felt his eyes bulge. "Oh, no, I am not smoking!"

Buford shrugged once more. "Well, you're gonna at least fake it, then. I don't feel comfortable with the fourth guy bein' so healthy."

Phineas sighed and turned his attention to Baljeet and Irving, who looked extremely annoyed. "Does he always pull this kind of stuff on you guys?" he asked.

Baljeet and Irving looked at each other and sighed. "Yes, Phineas," Baljeet answered, "Yes he does."

 **A/N:**

 **Well…I am not satisfied with this chapter. 8)**

 **Okay, it's not the worst thing I've written, it's just…I dunno. It took me several tries to write this thing out, and it still not as good as I wanted it to be. I even wrote the A/N on the top several months ago, and even THAT was rewritten several times! What the heck is wrong with me?! XD**

 **Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed, and give me some feedback! I…I am in desperate need in critiquing as you can tell. Please. Please just lay it on me. Or just give me a review, those are always nice.**

… **Ahem…these are usually longer…uh…how are you guys today? Have you watched Steven Universe? I have, it's an awesome show, Rebecca Sugar is aweshum, YOU MUST WATCH IT (noooo I'm not…not trying to force my friends to watch it…no…MarissawoodyiwillswayyoubothintothesideoftheSUeventhoughmuchofthefanbaseisfilledwithjerksbutnotallofthemsoyeah) 8D**

 **Also, I'm working on a Sonic the Hedgehog AU fic~, yaaaaaay…and I'm very scared, because last time I did that I was nearly kicked out because my opinions do not matter in the eyes of the public. But I am willing to face their judgement for the sake. Of. ART!**

 **And I'm probably gonna write a "Beauty and the Beast" parody for Phineas and Ferb, since I've been planning to. Just a heads up. XD It's kind of a Phinabella, but because a friend of mine was already planning/already wrote (I…can't seem to remember which tbh…forgive me, Marissa Flynn *bows head apologetically*) that with said pairing I've planned a much different approach…(cackles?)**

 **Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed, and have a God-blessed day/night! :D**

 **-GTS**


	16. Chapter 15

**So, it's been a while since Phineas and Ferb ended, hasn't it? Like, their anniversary passed and I posted NOTHING for it. I'm still really sad about that…buuuuuuuuuuutttttt…Milo Murphy's Law is pretty rad. I mean, I don't plan on writing any fics with MML any time soon, but I enjoy watching it as much as PnF, so…not the end of the world. XD Too bad, though, I was looking forward to watching the destruction and pillaging of society as we know it (Also, I've been getting into this show called "Camp Camp", and it's…surprisingly addictive…I actually MIGHT post a fan fic about that series sometime)**

 **If any of you say a Trump joke in the review, by the way, I will kill you. I mean it. I get that enough from Tumblr. I am a hundred percent done with internet politics.**

 **That aside, life has been a pain, man. My Drawing class wasn't as good as I thought it was gonna be (we basically did the same thing in different ways over and over and over…it was pretty tedious), but my Composition class was at least decent. I saw Psycho this year and…it was actually pretty good. Very good even. I think it might even be one of my favorite films now. And thriller/horror are my least favorite movie genres of all time!**

 **But enough about me and my life several months ago, who cares about that?**

 **Also, don't worry, I'm gonna try to update SummerTale next, along with uploading another fic because I like piling my plate with more ideas I don't have time for.**

 _"Phineas and Ferb"_ **are owned by** _Dan Povenmire_ **and** _Jeff "Swampy" Marsh_ **who both work for** _Disney(c)_ **(** _ **LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!**_ **)**

 **Marissa Flynn owns Marissa**

 **woodland59 owns Madison**

 **And I own literally everything else this story has to offer (that is to say, Dr. Alice Schnitzel, Applejack, Danni, and other OCs and material)**

 **Enjoy~!**

 **P/F/P/F**

"Okay, so according to the Firestorm Girls training manual, we can find water in cacti…yes, Gretchen?"

The second in command of the group of girls currently undergoing a Dessert simulation lowered her hand. "Exactly why do we need to go through this particular simulation again? There aren't exactly any desserts in the Tri-State Area."

"Maybe some dunes," Milly suggested, "But…I dunno, can we find cacti in the dunes?"

"Just giant hills of sand leading to a beach, maybe," Holly shrugged, "At least that's what I heard. I've never been to the dunes personally."

Ginger smiled shyly. "My sister and I went there once on a mission," she sighed, "It was nice. The water was so cool-."

"Girls," Isabella shouted, "Focus! If we wanna actually get this done by the end of the day, the I suggest leaning away from the temptation of falling into tangents."

Gretchen tilted her head. "I still don't see the point," she admitted, "The jungle simulations kinda make sense, and so does the mountain simulations considering Mt. Danville, but all the other simulations seem rather pointless. It's like Dr. Baljeet just downloaded some random fields for the sake of giving us more to do."

"… _I_ downloaded the simulations," Isabella muttered under her breath before clearing her throat, "Anyways, the training manual says that going through this simulation will help increase stamina, and help with other heat-related situations."

Holly frowned. "Are you sure that's what the manual says?" she asked, "Who even wrote that? When would any of us ever be in that kind of situation?"

Isabella cut off the fellow Firestorm girl, leaning into her face. "Do NOT mock the training manual!" she commanded "Remember what happened with Adyson getting heat stroke? This stuff could happen!"

"Yeah, but that happened during this simulation," Holly countered with a shrug.

"It still is happening," Katie called from a few ways from the group, dragging a barely conscious Adyson along, "Only now she thinks there are salamanders dancing to that one annoying song that Gretchen likes to listen to."

"Hey! The Macarena is a catchy song!"

As Adyson let out a drunken giggle, the hallucination still lingering on, Isabella sighed and shook her head. "Alright," she said, "Guess it's time for a break then."

 **(~)**

Buford's intricately made plan was a simple one, and Phineas had to admit that much to him at the very least. Yet he found himself questioning ever-the-more his own forced involvement in the situation regardless of his friend's innocent intentions, not that they were even that. First of all, even though he respected revenge schemes and had his fair shares of the gags (mostly towards Doofenshmirtz and Schnitzel if he was going to be totally honest), there were limitations to what he would do. Not due to moral obligation, though that was a part in some of it, but mostly because he knew the difference between snow and fire.

For those of you who fail to remember, the Firestorm Girls consisted of about seven girls Isabella included, and were quite skilled in their craft. What they lacked in body weight and strength compared to that of their male "counterparts", they made up in numbers. On the other hand, while the girls spent the hours training to the point of exhaustion, Baljeet and Irving would likely stand little a chance in a fight as far as Phineas was aware of, and Phineas himself seemed to have a thing for running rather than fighting (though you may argue that he stood quite the chance against the mutants, may I remind you that the sniveling coward known as Schnitzel also held herself well against them for a short amount of time; as fearsome as they were compared to that of a normal human being, they were, eventually to the three of them, no big deal).

Buford was the only one who was truly confrontational among the four of them. Thusly, if anything were to backfire on them, he'd be their only line of defense. Though he was arguably the strongest, and had it been a battle of mere brawns that day in the cafeteria, Buford would've probably slaughtered Isabella to the ground with no sweat. But Phineas reiterated the fact that this was one fat male against seven more agile little girls whose numbers clearly outweighed him.

Phineas proceeded to shake his head. Clearly Buford wasn't the brightest.

Regardless, he was involved, and there wasn't much he could do to get himself out of it. And honestly, after they managed to persuade him with candy, he didn't want to say no. The boy was, apparently, a total sweet-tooth after rediscovering the phenomenon that was sweets and sugary confections, and such things were easy to use to bribe him into the most ridiculous of circumstances. Perhaps, he thought to himself, that he shouldn't really be criticizing Buford's lack of intelligence if he was willing to risk his butt over a couple lollipops (though to his credit, they were really good lollipops).

The plan revolved around the Firestorm Girls' bio-dome training facility; all they had to do was sabotage it as such. Phineas, of course, not exactly knowing what such a feat would entail, feared the worst at this point, and yet had come to realize that he'd probably had seen far, far worse than whatever the bully could create for his image to perceive. From what he could understand, the bio-dome was yet another creation of Dr. Baljeet's (and you could only imagine the utter frustration of his own involvement in the tampering of _his own freaking machine)_ and that it was designed to generate almost any kind of environment.

Phineas could see it now: Buford transforming the entire arena into a swirling vortex of terror whilst they were climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro.

Luckily, even as he accidentally said this idea out loud, they managed to calmly persuade Buford out of actually going through with it…well, kind of. Sort of? Okay, yeah, considering the height and weight advantage Buford had on the other three boys…maybe calmly is putting it lightly?

"Buford, seriously, I was just kidding!" Phineas exclaimed as he ever so desperately tried to keep him away from the control panel of the machine. Why no one was left behind to guard it, he would never know. Maybe one of the Firestorm Girls took a stupid pill this morning, but he wasn't one to judge.

"Buford, think this through for once," Dr. Baljeet grunted as he, Irving, and Phineas, in that order, latched onto the boy twice their size and attempted to pull him away from the controls, "You could seriously injure one of them, or worse!"

Irving probably provided the least amount of assistance. Not from lack of trying, but it was clear most of the effort of keeping the idiot at bay relied heavily on Phineas and Baljeet, while Irving was too much of a backslapper to do more than limply hanging onto Buford's arm, and was easily lifted into the air. Granted, Phineas and Dr. Baljeet's attempts weren't anything to write home about, and Buford practically carried the three of them over to the control panel with relative ease.

"Cmon, it'll be fun," Buford grinned evilly at his comrades, "Besides, they're askin' for it. Just look at 'em, always actin' like they're better than us in every way shape and form…"

"Is that not what you do?" Baljeet asked flatly.

Buford smirked. "Yeah, but only because I really AM better than they are," he said matter-of-factly.

"I'm with Dr. Baljeet on this one, Byoof," Phineas eyed the control panel carefully; he felt like it would've made so much more sense, and would've been safer to boot, if the controls were inside the dome instead of out there where people like Buford could manhandle them, "We might get someone hurt…though that would give us an advantage if they were to find us here…actually yeah, yeah, if the right amount of them were-."

"ARE YOU LISTENING TO YOURSELF?!" Dr. Baljeet screeched at the triangle-headed boy, and Phineas could hear his brain practically shatter from the sound being so close to his hearing. Curse the high-pitched nerd being _right flipping next to him._ "Priorities Phineas!"

"Right, right," Phineas nodded in agreement and crossed his arms, "Buford. We are a hundred percent against this plan," he nodded towards the member who was most quiet, "Irving included."

Irving winced. "Please don't bring me into this…" he whimpered.

Buford rolled his eyes. "Well, I'm the leader here, so you don't get a vote," he sniped.

"Who said anything about voting?" Phineas blinked, "We're just not doing it. Period. You can't make us do jack."

"And since I am the only one who knows how to work this mechanism between the four of us," Dr. Baljeet trailed off into a bit of an arrogant chuckle.

"Besides, what if they're NOT climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro?" Phineas asked, "What if they were underwater?"

"Whirlpool," Buford suggested.

"Or a jungle?"

"Tiger attack."

"Do tigers even live in jungles?"

"Heck if I care. I just want some good old revenge."

"And nearly bringing death upon them is a viable solution? Really, Byoof, that sounds pretty harsh."

"It's a simulation! It's not gonna actually kill them. Trust me, most of the stuff in there's probably gonna cause them a couple bruises at most. The mountains in there are made of paper machete, ya' know."

Dr. Baljeet sighed. "Papier-Mache, Buford," he rubbed his temples, not noticing Phineas humming in his own thoughts given the newfound information, "And that doesn't mean they won't get hurt in any-…Phineas, are you seriously thinking about this? AGAIN?!"

Phineas nodded. "He has a point if most of the stuff there is fake," he said, "What's the real harm if we do go with his plan? As his friends, shouldn't we back him up, given that his 'honor' was slaughtered the other day?"

Irving quietly stepped forward. "Um…they do have a point," he softly inserted, "Besides, the Firestorm Girls are kinda mean…and scary…"

Another long winding heave left Dr. Baljeet's mouth as he covered his entire face with his hands, now convinced that he was surrounded by idiots. Irving blinked, wondering if he should've said anything before finally deciding to remain totally silent for the rest of the debate. Dr. Baljeet motioned to the machine. "On one hand," he said, "They could _possibly_ be injured by the ordeal; fake or not, that doesn't mean any distraction or diversion won't cause them harm. What if they were climbing something and suddenly there was an unplanned storm simulation? They'd probably fall, and the height is most likely more of a reality than the mountain is, even if there ARE safety measures provided."

Phineas hummed again. "That's…a good point…" he admitted still thinking, "Plus I really don't want Isabella getting hurt…"

Buford glowered at Phineas, unaware that the boy was, at this point, talking to himself. Dr. Baljeet continued. "And on the other hand," he stated, "If they ARE NOT injured, then they will most likely proceed to break our legs, arms, and other limbs we might have."

"Arms and legs are the only limbs we really have technically," Irving finally managed to speak only to gain a glare from the doctor in the process. Poor Irving shrunk back, whimpering; why was his mouth working against him today?

Dr. Baljeet gave yet another dramatic breath, and motioned his arms in a specific way. "So with that in mind," he said, "I urge you all to recognize that _this_ ," he motioned back to the machine once more, "Is a _bad idea._ "

After a moment, Phineas and Buford hummed simultaneously, while Irving simply went along with whatever Dr. Baljeet said and quietly went over to his side. Phineas nodded. "Yes, he makes a good point," Phineas stated, and looked at Buford, "It's a pretty stupid idea, Byoof. Sorry."

Buford sighed. "Well, time for plan B then…"

Phineas, Dr. Baljeet, and Irving all glanced at each other in confusing, not noticing Buford taking out his weapon of destruction before it was too late. The three shrieked as Buford proceeded to slam down a rather large wooden hammer onto the control panel, immediately creating massive, irreversible damage to the machine as a whole. Dr. Baljeet screamed in horror. "MY BABY!"

"BUFORD!" Phineas slapped his hands to the sides of his head, "What the ever loving **hell** have you done?!"

Buford snickered as he looked at the dome, ignoring the panicked noises coming from his friends. "I have absolutely NO idea, but it's gonna be so worth it!"

"You are an absolute moron, Buford!"

Irving proceeded to faint on the spot, his poor heart not being able to take all the growing chaos. Dr. Baljeet continued to sob over his destroyed creation while Buford seemed rather proud of himself. Phineas sighed. "Okay, let's not panic," he breathed, "We can fix this…Dr. Baljeet, are there any tools nearby?"

Whatever answer Dr. Baljeet gave came out as muddled cries of desperation and mourning, unable to be properly translated by mere human tongue. Phineas sighed, rolling his eyes before going over to Irving, raising him up by the collar, and giving him a couple smacks to the face. Irving squeaked back into life, and shrunk down at Phineas' gaze. Phineas released Irving. "Okay," he said calmly, "Irving? Do _you_ know if there are any tools nearby? Baljeet has been overrun with turmoil to really say anything of use to me."

Irving looked down to his feet before quietly responding, "There's some in the closet over there…?"

Phineas smiled. "Thank you, Irving," he nodded, and Irving seemed to brighten up a smidge at this; no one ever _acknowledged_ his help before, much less thank him, "Can you go get those for me then? I need to smack Baljeet back to reality so he can help me fix this."

Irving grinned and nodded before he and Phineas were grabbed by the back of their shirts and lifted back into the air by Buford. Phineas groaned. "Seriously, Byoof?! Seriously?!"

"At least wait this out and see where it goes," Buford grinned.

"I like you, man, you're really cool, but you are an asshole!"

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now, put me down before I kick your butt to next Tuesday!"

"Phineas, a punching bag could beat you to submission. No offense. It's just facts, man."

Phineas opened his mouth to give a clever retort, but found that his pride had been marred too greatly to cause any real damage. Instead, he attempted to reach out and pinch Buford's neck, and when this failed tried to flail out of his grasp. When all options proved useless, Phineas sighed once more in defeat and crossed his arms. "Fine," he said, "We'll see how this goes. Maybe if we're lucky it won't be as bad as we think it's gonna be."

 **(~)**

"…sir. Why is it snowing in the dessert?"

"What are you talking about, Holly? It's not sno-oh my god, it's snowing."

Sure enough, the artificial world of heat and sand suddenly exploded into a world of freezing cold and strong winds that could turn any of them into ice-cubes. The sun, however, remained bright enough for a tan at the least, leaving a weird freezing-yet-over-heating sensation over their bodies. Never had the in-between felt so horrible to bear.

"I-Isabella," Ginger chittered, "I-is this part o-o-of the sim-mu-mulation?"

"Ugh…" Adyson fell face first into the snow, no amount of coolness being able to get rid of her heatstroke.

Isabella looked up in confusion as the clouds became much darker, and along with the snow came heavy drops of hail-like rain. It hurt quite a bit, like they were being attacked by a hoard of bees, only they were soggy and wet. The wind picked up, sending Gretchen flying into the fake sky, slamming into it like the wall that it was.

"So much pain…" Gretchen moaned before her glasses fell off of her face, breaking on the floor upon impact, "Gosh dang it, those were my only pair!"

"Okay, what the heck is going on here?!" Isabella growled, marching over to where the exit of the bio-sphere should probably be, "If someone's messing with the controls outside I'm gonna-…"

Isabella froze. She pushed into the wall, then again, then slammed a fist onto it, then her entire body which made her slide into the snowy ground. She growled as she attempted to tackle the wall once more, only for the same result. She glowered at the rest of the Firestorm Girls. "Help me out here, girls!"

Immediately the Firestorm Girls, save for Gretchen who was still trapped to where she was, went to barrel into the wall, only for the impact to bounce them back into the snow, over and over again. Eventually, they became too exhausted to continue their attempts, and Isabella stared up at the wall, alarm in her voice when she spoke.

"…the door's locked. We can't get out of here."

Immediately the heated snow-storm brewed more as a terrifying S'winter started to emerge from the bio-sphere in full fury. The Fireside Girls all looked at each other, trying to stay brave-faced but unsure of what to do. They looked at Isabella. "What's the plan, sir?" Milly asked, pursing her lips.

Isabella looked at her troop, then back to the wall, then back to her troop. Almost as if remembering that she was but a nine-year-old child, she resorted to her final attempt of grasping freedom. The other girls immediately followed in on her actions.

"…HELP!"

 **(~)**

Upon the sound of shrieking and panicking arose from the inside of the bio-sphere, Phineas immediately realized that, no, this was just as bad as he initially thought it was going to be. Buford grinned. "Wow!" he laughed, "The _Firestorm Girls_ crying for help already?! What a bunch of wimps!"

Phineas gave Buford a piercing stare. "Buford, I swear to god," he said sternly, "Put us down _right now._ You've had your fun, now this has gone way too far."

Irving whimpered in response to the growing panic around him. Phineas shot down at the other inventor in the room. "BALJEET! Snap out of it! You gotta fix the machine, fast!"

Dr. Baljeet mumbled some things out sadly, making Phineas growl loudly in frustration. "Okay, that's it! Buford, I do not wanna be a knowing accomplice to this little prank of yours if it's gonna get them killed! What's it gonna take for you to put us both down, suck up your hatred of Isabella and apparently the rest of the Firestorm Girls, and let us help them before something really bad happens?!"

Buford paused and hummed to himself. Phineas shrieked, "Cmon! You're not this bad of a person, Byoof! Even Doofenshmirtz wouldn't do something like this! Do you honestly want to see Isabella get killed by whatever you just did?!"

The bully thought more about it, his humored expression suddenly going sour as he finally seemed to piece together what he was doing, as if being compared to the evil dictator was a dawning moment for his brain. Or perhaps he really didn't want to see the arrogant Firestorm Leader get that seriously hurt. If she of all people was screaming for mercy this quickly…He sighed and released his grip, sending Phineas and Irving to the floor. Buford looked down at least somewhat apologetically. "Maybe this has gone a bit too far…"

"You think?!" Phineas snarled, "I swear to-to-…bloody _Cthulhu_ , Buford!"

"Uh…I don't mean to interrupt," Irving said quietly, "But..."

The sounds of the Firestorm Girls' screams seemed to fade as the bio-sphere began to shudder. Phineas gasped and rushed to Dr. Baljeet, shaking him. "Baljeet! Please, Baljeet, get it together!"

"I worked on this for hours…"

"I know, 'Jeet, but listen…wait… _hours?!_ This would've taken me at least twenty minutes! _And_ I would've been able to put controls on the _inside_ , you frigging psychopath!"

Having just about enough, Phineas looked back to Irving with sparking determination flaring in his eyes, the adrenaline turning on to full force in his blood. "Where did you say those tools were again?!"

 **(~)**

Apparently flying through a forest of conscious, flesh-eating plant life was one of the most tedious things one can go through when you went about in a vehicle that was built with the proper protection from said plants. Three hours had passed and it looked like they might've been going around in circles, and if not then there were very few differences between the paths they took. Doofenshmirtz and Schnitzel were, by all means of the word, bored out of their minds.

"Are we there yet…?"

"No."

"How about now?"

"No, Alice…"

"Now?"

"No."

"Now?"

" _No._ "

"Are we there yet?"

"Seriously, Alice, you've been asking me this for an hour straight, and the answer has been the same!"

"Are we there yet?"

"Look out the goddamn window, Alice!"

"Are we there yet?"

"WE ARE NOT THERE!"

"Are we there yet?"

"NO!"

Doofenshmirtz was about read to slam his face into the steering wheel, but managed to find some self-control. Schnitzel was lying back and stared up at the ceiling of the vehicle, rather tiredly, and unaware to the driver, a small fairy sat on her head asking the same annoying question. "Ugh, why is this taking us so long?" Schnitzel whined childishly, "We've been going at this for hours, they can't possibly be that far from us…"

"…you know, it's occurred to me that maybe I should be flying about the forest of carnivorous plant life that are lusting for our bloody flesh," Doofenshmirtz thought out loud, earning a deep frown from Schnitzel, who looked disgusted.

"Dude," she gagged, "The fuck?"

"Yeah, I know," Doofenshmirtz shook his head, "That was my bad…plus I think this GPS is mocking me."

"No, not that," Schnitzel rolled her eyes, "I mean…jeez, did you really need to give us that description? Nightmare fuel, thy name is Heinz."

"Well, it's not untrue," Doofenshmirtz said, "Besides, I'm not very good at navigating through stuff like this. Why do you think I go around places on a blimp?"

"I never knew you sucked at directions."

"I don't suck at it…I just…get lost easily."

"So we _are_ going around in circles, then."

"…shut up."

Schnitzel looked back up, holding back a snicker. "Sorry," she said, "It's just…these pheromones are starting to give me a headache."

"Yeah, about that," Doofenshmirtz said, "The manual for this things states that inhaling too much of these pheromones might cause some kind of drug induced euphoria? I dunno, maybe you should open the windows."

Schnitzel's eyes widened as she looked back to Madison, who whistled as she did her thing. She sighed. "Now _this_ suddenly makes sense…"

"What suddenly makes sense?"

"…nothing…hold on…did you say this thing has a _manual?_ "

Doofenshmirtz nodded. "Yes," he said, "It's pretty thick. I left it under your seat. It was a good thing it was there, too, this thing is surprisingly complex. Like a simplified space ship, but still a space ship nonetheless."

Schnitzel reached down and, sure enough, there was a rather heavy user manual under her chair. She pulled it out and stared at it with widened eyes as she saw the author's name. "…okay, how the fuck did Phineas do all this so quickly?" she asked, "The vehicle is one thing, but this thing is over a hundred pages long."

"Granted he didn't write it all that well," Doofenshmirtz said, "Actually it's one of the worst things I've ever read, so I'm not sure if he's talking about one thing or another. It's a big guessing game. But for the most part it's easy to decipher."

"Seriously, though," Schnitzel looked over back to Doofenshmirtz, "When did he have the time to write this all down, print it, and get a hardcover for it?"

"There's also a printer in this thing under the back seats."

"…a printer?"

"Uh-huh. Couldn't find the computer he used, though."

"…I'm starting to think your son has demonic powers."

"You're overreacting, Alice."

"He wrote a 459 paged manual for a complicated piece of machinery that he also built on top of that in less than twelve seconds."

"Yes."

"…that doesn't scare you even a little?"

"Not really. Actually it's rather impressive. I knew he was gifted, but sheesh…"

" _Twelve fucking seconds, Heinz!"_

"I've been able to do stuff like that in ten minutes when I was his age. I don't see the problem."

"Yeah, but…you're _you_. Of _course_ you can do that. And yeah, I expected that kind of thing from your kids…but…he did that all in seconds! He's a fucking nine-year-old, Heinz! And you've banned a lot of this stuff, where did he get the time to do any of this, while he was on the street?!"

"I think he must've gotten some pointers from Ferb," Doofenshmirtz said, "If I recall he and his brother did do a lot of building…"

Schnitzel looked over at Doofenshmirtz with wide eyes. "…you…you knew?" she asked, "You knew he could build this shit?"

"For a while, yes," Doofenshmirtz nodded.

"Even before he was captured then? Before he started working for you…"

"Uh-huh…"

"…holy shit."

"What?"

"That was your plan all along…that's why Candace never involved Phineas in the Resistance…you were gonna use him and his brother regardless of whether or not he was related to her!"

Doofenshmirtz shrugged. "What can I say," he admitted, "I saw potential."

"That's…how…" Schnitzel rubbed her temples, "I thought you were putting too much work on him on purpose…did you know he would've ran off onto the streets?"

"No," Doofenshmirtz sighed, "Actually…somewhere after their father died, suddenly the hidden cameras I left in the residences homes stopped working. I never had the time to fix them and…well…I suppose I forgot after a while."

Schnitzel shook her head once more, trying to wrap her head around what she had been told. How did she not figure this out before? More importantly…why did this fill her with so much dread? What could this possibly have meant for her to feel this way in the first place? And why was she suddenly getting mad?

"…when were you going to take those kids away from their parents?" Schnitzel glared.

Doofenshmirtz glanced over at her. "What, you're not gonna ask about me forgetting about-?"

"Heinz, you forget about a lot of stuff, you being careless is nothing new," Doofenshmirtz surprisingly nodded in agreement with her, much to Schnitzel's relief, "Now tell me…when were you going to take Phineas and his brother away, Heinz?"

Doofenshmirtz seemed reluctant to answer at first. Not because of any guilt he might've felt, but because he knew he'd have to deal with her rambling at him. "…when they were about twelve or so," he finally answered.

Schnitzel was taken aback once more. "Twelve…Heinz, they're kids!"

"Yes," Doofenshmirtz nodded, "I was twelve when I left my parents."

"Your parents were sociopathic monsters, Heinz," Schnitzel reminded, " _And_ you killed them both in cold blood."

" _We_ killed them, Alice."

"Whatever, Heinz, this is completely messed up thinking you had!"

"I didn't know he was my son at the time, to be perfectly fair…"

"That's not the point, Heinz! Phineas may be a brat, but he's still a _kid!_ Ferb is, too! And literally _everyone_ in the Resistance, come to think of it!"

"The Resistance? Where are you going with this?"

Schnitzel let out a weird strained noise, wondering where _was_ she going with this anyway? She looked over at Madison for some advice, but all she seemed to say was, " _Go for it~! Kiss him~!_ "

Schnitzel looked back to Doofenshmirtz. "Do you ever wonder what would've happened if you managed to get Phineas and Ferb at the time you wanted?" she asked.

"Hm…I don't think I've thought about it since Ferb joined the Resistance…remember when we saw him first? He was with that Danni girl…"

"Was…that the day she…um…"

"No, no, we saw them a few times before that…that was the time where that other girl was…hm…"

"What?"

"I…I can't seem to remember her face all that well…a lot happened during that time, it's-it's kind of a blue to me."

"You mean that girl with the glasses that was kinda just…there?"

"Yeah, that's her. She…hm…I thought only Candace had that freakishly long neck thing going on."

"I think it's an adolescent thing."

"You never had a long neck."

"And yet the fact remains that you did."

"…this is true…"

"Anyways, we're getting off track. Phineas and Ferb; what would you have done to them?"

Doofenshmirtz raised up his shoulders once more in his thoughts. "Pretty much the same thing I did with Phineas, only I figured by then they'd be as paranoid as their mother had grown to be," he said, "Right before the age of rebellion kicks in, and I could've basically destroyed their confidence enough for them to skip right passed that stage of their lives."

"Do…do you have a problem with children or something?"

"Not that I think of. Why do you ask?"

Schnitzel carefully raised up her hands in thought. "Hear me out, man," she said, "You know how you had, like, the worst childhood ever?"

Doofenshmirtz paused and responded with an immediate glower that shrunk Schnitzel down to size. "If you think that I treat children with a particular amount of torture compared to those of elder age because my days of youth were the worst years of my life," he said, "I'm going to have to stop you right there. Because that would imply that I treated my kids that badly in the first place, and that would imply a lot of things regarding Vanessa's…" he swallowed; at least he could say her name now without breaking down, "…passing…that I'm still sick of hearing from people. I don't need to hear it from you."

"…well," Schnitzel twiddled with her hair awkwardly, "You did kinda do that to Phineas…and he's your son, so-"

"Yeah," Doofenshmirtz snapped, "But I didn't _know_ he was my son, and let's be real he was and probably still is a massive pain in the ass to deal with! His sass levels are off the charts, he tried escaping every other day for several weeks, not to mention he would reprogram the Norm-Bots when he was bored…"

"To be fair I think he was still angry at us for making him think we were gonna turn him into a Cyborg," Schnitzel admitted, "Either way, he kinda deserved to be shoved into the Ice Box for that one…particularly the time his actions set my hair on fire."

"Love how you predominate, Alice."

"Hey, first of all, that was freaking painful! Did you hear how loud I was screaming?"

"Unfortunately yes...ugh..."

"And second, you have your priorities, and I have mine."

"And don't get me started with that caffeine rush you had," Doofenshmirtz scowled, "Ugh, I still have nightmares about it! You were like that stupid cartoon laughing penguin."

"Peggy the Penguin?"

"Confound it do not mention that stupid avifauna's name to me again!"

Doofenshmirtz slammed a hand down against the wheel in his growing frustration, and a horn sound blasted, sending Doofenshmirtz and Schnitzel up into the ceiling of the vehicle in their shock. Doofenshmirtz groaned as he managed to gain back control while Schnitzel gripped her chest in terror. "…why the fuck would he put a horn on this fucking thing?!" Schnitzel shrieked.

Doofenshmirtz groaned. "When I get my hands on that little brat," he said, "I am going to strangle him."

"Leave room for me to throttle," Schnitzel sneered, "I forgot how much he annoyed me…what a little asshole."

"Yeah, right? I swear to god, if he weren't my son I wouldn't be going after him."

" _Son?_ More like _sin._ Up top!"

Doofenshmirtz and Schnitzel high-fived each other and actually started to laugh. Subtly the mirthful banter slowly turned to tearful whimpering, and Doofenshmirtz didn't stop Schnitzel from clinging to him and sobbing onto his should while he tried to stay in total control of his emotions. _Dammit_ they missed that little annoying turd so much and if anything happened to him they would literally kill everyone and then themselves for it. Madison flittered over and patted Schnitzel on the head comfortingly.

It was at that moment that something had collided with their ship; something intentionally aimed at them in fact. Their cries of misery were turned into screams of terror as they careened towards the grassy ground below, both hugging each other for dear life. Schnitzel was too scared to be mad at Madison's rather impromptu commentary over the situation.

" _Aw~, how romantic! You're both falling to your deaths together~! I'm so proud~!"_

 **A/N:**

 **On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…:**

 _ **CLIFFHANGERS BABY!**_

 **You get a cliffhanger, and you get a cliffhanger! EVERYBODY GETS A CLIFFHANGER! AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!**

 **Merry Christmas all ya'll! And happy Holidays!**

 **-GTS**


End file.
